Dimensional War
by OseanSoldier
Summary: When two secret organizations from different dimensions collide, it is up to a genetically modified Lucario to stop them before they can achieve world domination. But first, he must overcome his past and find others who can help him with his quest.
1. Genisis

Dimensional War

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Pokémon or anything but the plot of this story.

Okay, this is my first story ever, so it may be a little rough. Anyway I hope you all enjoy. The story starts out in the Pokémon dimension in a region I am calling Saldara. Many of the countries in this story come from Ace Combat, so if they seem familiar, that is where they are from. The story line will have only minor references to Ace Combat story lines. So here is Chapter 1, hope you all like it.

**UPDATED 4-2-13**

* * *

Chapter 1: Genesis

Deep in the Arrow Desert of the Saldara region is a top secret research lab belonging to an organization known only as Alpha. Alpha conducted experiments on Pokémon in order to achieve their goal, world domination. The lab was soon filled the deafening noise of the eight primary reactors starting up. Each of these reactors produced enough power for a large city and had never been fired up all at once before. However, every other experiment had failed do to a lack of power.

"All eight reactors are now online, Dr. Hamilton. Are you sure this is safe? This much raw power has never been used before and I am unsure if the machines will hold up," said the chief engineer, who was a short, bald man with thick glasses.

"We will precede as scheduled, are the two test subjects in position?" replied Hamilton. Hamilton on the other hand was tall, had black hair, and had a sense of command around him.

"Yes sir, the Pokémon are in their respective chambers and the labs have been cleared. We may start the procedure as soon as the reactors stabilize."

"Good."

* * *

Meanwhile, in another dimension, a research base with advanced technology was stirred to life by the sound of alarms. This base had been abandoned by the Osean Federation after the last war and military budgets were cut. Most of the equipment from the base was taken out and stored in secure locations across the country, but some of the larger equipment had been left behind after being disabled. However, those who were defeated in the war secretly occupied the deserted base and started to reactivate some of the equipment in the base. The two most prominent pieces of technology in the research facility were a Dimensional Energy Scanner (DES) and a Dimensional Laser Extractor (DLE). Neither of these two powerful machines was ever completely finished by Osean scientists, but Belkan researchers had secretly gathered the necessary parts to finish both machines in hopes of gathering advanced weapons from other dimensions and using them in vengeance against Osea.

"Sir, the DES as locked on to an enormous energy signature. We have never had a reading like this before. Should we fire up the targeting system of the DLE to see what this energy spike is?"

General Marshal, head of the Belkan resistance, nodded in reply and soon power was being diverted from all over the center to the main laboratory. The General got out of his chair and walked over to the command room to observe the progress. After seeing that all lights were green, he pulled the lever that engaged the targeting system of the DLE. The targeting system was basically a dimensional telescope and allowed the center to look into other dimensions. Soon the main screen came up with the image of a world that looked like their own, but with different continents and oceans. The screen went through a process of zooming in till it was over a large complex in the middle of a desert. The complex had three large two story buildings, a large courtyard, and several helipads. The complex was surrounded by a barbwire fence with quite a few guard towers. General Marshal looked at the screen intently as others worked around him.

General Marshal was a well-respected man among his troops, not to anyone else. To most of the world, he was a war criminal. During the last war, which Belka lost, he fought ruthlessly, often executing prisoners, or putting them through extremely painful interrogations before killing them. He did not leave the base much because of this; news channels and other media outlets constantly showed his picture. The one they used most often was from when he graduated from the Belkan Military Academy. This showed him in his Captains uniform, only part of his brown hair showing from underneath his cap, and his steel, black eyes gazing into the camera.

* * *

"Engage the primary drive and run the hybridization program," yelled Hamilton.

The chief engineer pulled down the main lever and entered the command in the computer next to it. The two chambers that were visible from the control room were soon filled with a blinding light and the Pokémon in each chamber became impossible to see. Then the light vanished and the chambers were empty.

"Start the secondary procedure!"

With this the chief engineer typed the necessary commands into his computer and pulled down another lever. With this a third chamber was filled with a bright light. After a few minutes the light receded, but the room was filled with a white smoke.

"The process is complete and appears to have been successful Dr. Hamilton."

"Which of the two Pokémon retained dominance?"

"Scanners are not showing, we will have to wait till the smoke clears," the engineer said as he switched on the laboratory fans. The two large fans soon sucked the smoke out of the lab as everyone in the command room stood to see their creation.

Their creation appeared to be a Lucario, but this Lucario had been changed. His fur was no longer blue, but a pale, snow white. The fur on this torso was no longer tan, but a dark grey. The spikes on his hands and chest were no longer silver, but a dark purple. Finally, his eyes were no longer red, but were bright purple. Perhaps the only thing the same was the black areas on his body.

The Lucario was unconscious, but his mind was racing. He was dreaming, but it seemed like more than a dream. He saw a large complex in a desert, but there was soon a flash of light that came from the sky and engulfed the compound. When the light stopped, the compound was gone, but the ground around it was not scorched at all. It was as if the complex had just vanished. The desert soon zoomed out until all he saw was the world which then also disappeared. Soon he saw another world: similar, yet different from his own. The vision zoomed into a forest region the bordered a fairly large city. His vision continued to zoom until it was deep into the forest when the light reappeared and along with it, the complex from the desert.

Meanwhile, the scientists in the command room were celebrating their success and with cheers and champagne that had been bought for this very occasion. The mood in the room was ecstatic after the first successful trail of their new machine.

"Hamilton, with our lab now fully operational, will we receive more test subjects?" asked one of the top scientists.

"The new test subjects came in this morning, about 200 Pokémon. The new subjects have a great deal of variety and soon we can begin sending the most powerful of them back to high command." Hamilton replied.

"This morning? But that was before we even conducted our test. Why would they sent us such a large quantity of Pokémon if we had yet to be successful?" the scientist replied in a confused voice.

"The shipment also caught me off-guard. I contacted command, and they verified that they had indeed sent the shipment. Just goes to show how much faith they have in our project here. I have a good feeling about our future progress here."

* * *

General Marshal and his command staff noted that activity at the facility on the screen had slowed and the DES had shown a sharp decline in energy.

"It would appear as though they are finished whatever they were doing," concluded Lieutenant Hopper, General Marshal's second in command. "Should we try to extract anything, sir?"

"Yes, extract the entire compound," replied the general.

This reply was met with empty stares of disbelief from everyone in the room, even from LT Hopper.

"The entire compound? Sir, I do not know if that is even possible. The most we have ever extracted is a few tanks and planes."

"We may never get another chance to locate this base, as we have learned, dimensions constantly move. That base may hold the answers to all our problems and I will not let this opportunity slip by. You have your orders, divert all power to the DLE and engage it at once!" ordered General Marshal in an annoyed tone of voice. He was not used to having his orders questioned.

"Yes sir," replied Hopper, who then proceeded to relay the command to the respective personnel. After about an hour the DLE was ready with all power. Everywhere on the base was without power with the exception of the main laboratory, the command room, and a few other important areas.

"Engage."

* * *

Lucario awoke in his cell. He had a splitting headache and had a feeling that something terrible was about to happen. He stopped and tried to remember his dream he had had.

"Why did that dream seem so real," he asked himself, "and why do I feel so weak?"

Lucario stopped after saying "weak" and remembered the last night of his free life, the day he had evolved. Feelings of hurt soon ran through his body as he remembered that he couldn't trust anyone, not for any reason. With this a tear ran down his face. He moved to wipe it away with his paw when there was a sudden flash of light and a high pitched screech. He fell to the floor, closed his eyes, and covered his ears trying to reduce the pain of the light and sound. He soon felt himself drift into unconsciousness.

* * *

When Lucario came to, he saw that all the lights were off. He deduced that the power had gone off. He sat up upon thinking this.

"If the power is out, then maybe the electro-magnet that locks by cell is off too," Lucario said quietly but hopefully to himself.

He pushed on the door and sure enough it swung open. However, because all the lights were out, he had to rely on his aura vision to navigate the hall that held all the other Pokémon. He was caught off-guard by the amount of Pokémon he sensed. He didn't remember there being this many Pokémon in the complex. He could feel that they were all unconscious as well and started to make his way to the exit of the building when he tripped over something. He saw that it was one of the guards, also unconscious. Relief soon swept over him as he realized we has the only on awake in this building. Stretching his power even farther, he was surprised to find he was the only one awake in the entire complex. He soon started a full sprint to the exit and burst through the door into the open night sky. Lucario looked around for the nearest fence and ran towards it. Upon reaching it he charged up an aura sphere and shot it at the fence. However, because he was still relying on his aura vision, he failed to notice a distinct difference in the sphere. It had been a purplish color instead of blue. Lucario soon ran through the large hole he had created in the fence. To his own surprise, the hole was much large than he had meant it to be. After looking around once more, he was shocked to see that they were in a forest.

"I could have sworn this place was in a desert," he mumbled to himself as he remembered looking out the window of the helicopter that brought him to the complex. Lucario soon remembered his dream. He stood in shock as he realized his bore incredible resemblance to what had just happen. The complex and the light were just as his dream had been.

Lucario was jolted back to reality when he sensed the auras of the other Pokémon following in his tracks out of the building where they were kept. It wouldn't be long till the staff and guards came to. Lucario ran off into the forest hoping he wasn't being followed. He continued his sprint for quite a long time till he came to the base of a large hill. Looking around he saw a lake and several large trees. Tired from his run, Lucario struggled to climb up one of the larger trees. Upon making it into the foliage of the tree, he stopped, found a sturdy branch, and laid down. Exhausted, he decided to rest, hoping this would be the beginning of a new chapter in his life.

"Free at last." he said to himself before drifting into a deep sleep.

* * *

"General, we lost track of the compound just as it entered our dimension. The DLE could not handle the size of the complex. It did not arrive at the target destination, but we are fairly certain that it did arrive somewhere else in the country. The lead scientists have determined that it must be in an open area or the transfer would not have succeeded. They are coming up with a list of possible locations now."

"This is not good," replied General Marshal. "If the Osean authorities find it first, then our secret will be out. Inform our agents in the government to keep their eyes and ears open for anything regarding the facility. And send out small teams to some of the possible locations as soon as possible. It is of utmost importance that we do not lose our cover, I will not be defeated twice by Osea, not while I control this facility."

* * *

Well that was chapter 1. I hope you all enjoyed it and I will try to get chapter 2 out soon. I would really appreciate any feedback and look forward to hearing about how I did. As I said this was my first story ever.

Also, I would like to thank lupyne, he gave me some great tips and his story, I Am Lucario, inspired me to write this.


	2. Rebirth

Hello again. This will be the beginning of Act I, which will primarily focus on Lucario and not so much the other two factions at the beginning. I will welcome any and all constructive criticism as I am still fairly new to this. Anyway here is Chapter 2.

Act I: Revelation

Chapter 2: Rebirth

**UPDATED 4-2-13**

* * *

"What the heck just happened?" Hamilton yelled in an extremely agitated voice. "Where are all the Pokémon and why are we in a forest? Roberts! Give me a status report!"

"Sir, to be honest, none of us has the slightest clue. We cannot reach command or any of our satellites and most of our electrical equipment is not functioning." replied chief engineer Roberts. "It would appear that most of the Pokémon escaped after the electronic locking mechanisms failed. We are sending out search parties now, but have advised them to proceed with caution. We appear to be in an area I have never seen before and is not on any of our maps. From my best guesses, we are no longer in the Saldara region, maybe not even in our own world base off the stars and constellations we viewed last night."

"You're telling me that this entire base, the entire staff, and all the Pokémon we had with us, were teleported to an unknown location, that may not even be in our world? That's just great." Hamilton replied as he sank back into his chair. "Send out more teams, but not to look for the missing Pokémon. I want them to try to find out where we are. And tell them to keep a low profile. I do not want to draw any unwanted attention."

"Yes sir."

* * *

Lucario woke to the chirping of birds, actual birds not Pokémon, around him. Looking around and seeing that we was in a tree took him by surprise, but he swiftly remembered what had happened the past night. Without thinking too much, he jumped from his perch in the tree to get some water from the nearby lake. When he got to the lake and looked into the sparkling, clear water, he froze at what he saw.

"What, what have they done to me?" Lucario yelled into the sky, his voice full of agony. "Why am I white? What have I done to deserve this?" Lucario starting crying, falling to his knees, unsure of what he had become. He looked completely different in his eyes. His physical appearance transformed into something he did not recognize. After a while, he got ahold of himself, and walked back to the lake to get something to drink. He was absolutely parched and it took a few mouthfuls of water before he could really feel the water in his mouth and throat. After he finished getting water, he noticed some apples in a nearby tree and grabbed some to calm his groaning stomach.

"I need answers." Lucario said to himself. "I need to find out if I really am in a different world as my dream showed. Then I will find those responsible for this," looking down at his body, "and make them pay." The anger in his voice and eyes would have been enough to scare any living thing who witnessed it.

Lucario decided to climb up the hill and look around to try and figure out where he should go next. He sprinted up the hill with speed he had not previously known and reached the peak of the hill shortly. Looking around, he noticed that he could not see the research lab, but he could see the tops of some tall buildings.

"That must be the city I saw in my dream." Lucario said quietly to himself, wishing he was wrong. After another short look around, he headed down the hill, toward the city.

There was something about the forest that had been bugging him since he woke up this morning and only continued as he journeyed toward the city. After for sprinting for an extended amount of time, he stopped to meditate on the issue. Finding a small clearing, he sat down and closed his eyes. He cast everything out of his mind, even his burning anger towards those who changed him. Once he cleared his mind, Lucario began to focus on the surrounding forest for the disturbance he felt, which proved to be harder than he originally thought.

"What is wrong here? Something doesn't feel right." He said in a low, agitated voice. Then it hit him. There were no Pokémon in the surrounding woods. He could not pick up on the aura of even one Pokémon. However, he could sense the auras of many normal animals, which were usually extremely scarce. He expanded his aura vision even farther before finding a few Pokémon. He recognized their aura though; they were also Pokémon from the lab.

"So, there is a good chance I am in a world where Pokémon are not natural." The aura Pokémon thought to himself. "Which means the inhabitants of this world will most likely not react well to our presence. Keeping a low profile is an absolute must then."

He continued toward the city to see if he could sense any Pokémon there, but he doubted that he would. Upon reaching the outskirts of the suburbs, Lucario tried to think of a way to get closer without being seen. After a short look around, he saw his answer. There was a wooded river that ran on the outskirts of the suburbs toward the city.

"Shouldn't be too hard to remain hidden if I stay in the trees, and if thing take a turn for the worst, I can always come out this way." Lucario quietly said to himself. Taking a quick scan for auras in the woods, he was pleased with what he had found. "Doesn't look like to many people are in the woods either. This might actually turn out to be rather easy." Smiling at his luck, Lucario sprinted toward the tree line of the woods. Once in the woods along the small river, he slowed down in order to conserve his energy. He was only a little tired despite the long distance he had run, however, his hunger and thirst had returned. Scanning the foliage for something to eat, he saw some bushes full with berries. After seeing that they were safe to eat, he picked a few handfuls of the small, blue fruit and walked back to the river to rest. Leaning against a tree, Lucario let his mind wonder.

"It was been so long since I have enjoyed myself like this. All that time in captivity, all the tests they did on me. I am just glad that is all behind me now. I wonder what this world is like and if the people of this world will treat us kindly when we are discovered." Lucario thought, for he knew that he and the other Pokémon would be discovered before too long. As time passed, he knew the chances of being discovered grew rapidly. Looking up and seeing that the sun was setting, Lucario decided to call it a day. He looked around for the biggest tree he could find to sleep in and found a rather large oak tree.

"Not as large as the trees by the lake, but it will have to do. I would prefer to sleep down here by the river, but I can't risk being found. As soon as I find a safe place, I will set up some sort of camp for myself." Lucario sighed quietly. After a quick climb into the foliage, he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Lucario had another dream, one of the ones that seem as if it were real. He saw a large single story building on fire. He saw people fleeing out of several doors at the front, but as the fire spread, the doors became blocked, not only by the fire, but also when part of the building collapsed. He knew that those who were still inside would be trapped as the fire was blocking the other exits and the fire-rescue teams were yet to arrive. Lucario now felt as if he had some control over what he was seeing and looked around for other landmarks around the building. He saw a medium sized, white building with a tall steeple and several rows of nice houses, but before he could discover anymore the dream ended with a sharp pain.

"OUCH!" yelped Lucario as he realized he had fallen out of the tree. He felt is head and noticed it was drenched with sweat. "That dream was just like my last one, and if what I know about these dreams is correct, then there will be a large fire in this town tomorrow." Recalling his dream, he tried to decide what to do. From what he could remember, people were still trapped inside, and there was no sign of help arriving anytime soon, which means that most, if not all, of the people still inside would perish. Lucario shook his head and said with determination, "I will not allow that to happen. I will save those people in any way I can, even if it means exposing my presence here." He stopped after what he had said. If he got caught, he did not know how the townspeople would react, and would expose him much earlier than he hoped to. "It is a risk I must take." Lucario admitted to himself, remembering the oath he had taken as a Riolu when he started his training with the Elders of Aura. "_For better or for worse, I will protect those who cannot protect themselves._"

No longer able to sleep, Lucario got to the highest point he could to look around, which was difficult do to it still being rather dark. He did however catch sight of something, something important. He saw the tall steeple from the building across from the building that was going to catch fire. The only problem was that to get there, he had to go through a residential area.

"So much for this being an easy trip." Lucario thought ironically. "Better start now while I still have some darkness to hide in." And with that, Lucario started off at a full sprint. The faster he could get there, the less likely he will be found. He reached the edge of the woods but did not stop; closing his eye and turning to his aura vision to guide him through the streets. Lucario took back streets and streets he detected no activity on to get the white building. Soon he had the building in his sights and decided to climb into the steeple for a better look at what was to come. Upon reaching the base of the building, Lucario jumped and found himself on the roof; he quickly jumped again and found himself at this destination.

"I didn't know I could jump like that." He thought proudly to himself. "Now, what should I do about this fire? No use trying to prevent the fire; that would mean exposing myself completely. I guess that leaves making another exit and helping those inside get out safely." He knew he could make another exit easily with an aura sphere, remembering to reduce the power this time unless he wanted to bring the building down, but he would have to make sure those inside found the hole he made. He stopped to think some more. "Of course! I can use telepathy to lead them out using their aura to guide them. Now, for some more sleep, I am going to need it." Lucario lay down in the steeple on a small blanket he saw in the corner and continued to get some more sleep.

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_

Lucario woke to the sound of the explosions and sat straight up. Looking around, he saw that it was about midday. Remembering why he was there, he quickly looked down at the large building below him, and saw that his dream had been accurate; parts of the building were engulfed in flames. He saw people starting to pour out of the exits, but soon, all except the front exit was blocked by the fires and debris. Lucario noticed that the archway over the front entrance was about to give way. He quickly used his aura vision to see inside the building and to his horror discovered that the building was an elementary school and another group of students was about to exit under the weakening archway. Realizing that time was short, he created a telepathic link with the remaining teacher.

"_STOP! The archway is about to collapse!"_

The teacher confused by the sudden voice in her head turned and looked out the doors at the archway. What she saw confirmed what the voice in her head said. Panicking, she yelled out to the students about to go out.

"Wait, stop, don't go out, the archway is about to collapse!"

The group of students looked up in terror and fled back into the building just before the archway collapsed, covering the group in a heavy dust. Lucario breathed a sigh of relief, but his job wasn't done yet. Closing his eyes once again, he established a telepathic link with the same teacher as before.

"_Listen to me carefully. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I need you to do as I say. Understand? I can read your thoughts so you don't have to speak out loud to communicate with me."_

The teacher stopped her panicking when the voice she had heard before appeared in her head again, only this time it sounded calm and friendly.

"_Yes, I understand."_ The teacher thought, though she was still confused as to who she was receiving instructions from. _"What do you want me to do?"_

"_I am going to help you and your students get out of the building. I need you to follow my directions exactly and swiftly."_ Lucario replied back to the woman, happy that she was being so cooperative. _"I need you to head down the hallway to your left until you reach the end. Then turn right and go halfway down the hallway."_

"_Okay."_ The teacher thought back hastily, still not sure what was going on, hoping she could trust whoever or whatever was helping her. She turned to the students, "Listen up everyone! I am going to lead you all to safety. I need you all to form lines behind me and please stay close."

The students obeyed their teacher swiftly as they had been taught to do in emergencies. Soon the group headed down the hallway Lucario had instructed the teacher to take. Upon reaching the end of the hall, the teacher stopped. Parts of the hall had been blocked by burning roof tiles, but there was enough room for the group to navigate through safely.

The teacher swiftly turned right and lead the students down the hallway then stopped. Confused as to why the voice had told her to stop here. By now the fire had cut off their way back and was also advancing from the front. The teacher started to panic as she realized they were trapped with no way out.

"_Maybe I am hearing things, this just isn't possible. Now I have led my students to their deaths."_ The teacher thought to herself, cringing at what she had gotten herself into.

Lucario chuckled to himself at this thought. She would not believe half the thing he could do, though he did feel bad for giving her the illusion of no hope. Returning to the situation at hand, Lucario charge up an aura sphere, a small one, remembering the power his last one had unleashed. This time he noticed it was purple instead of blue.

"_Stand back!"_ Lucario ordered the teacher as he shot the purple aura sphere at the building.

There was a small explosion, but it created a hole big enough for the people trapped inside to escape. He looked down, satisfied with his work as the teacher and students exited the burning building when he noticed that there were news vans in front of the school. Shocked that he had not seen their arrival, and even worse, one of the cameras had been pointed toward the part of the school he had fired the aura sphere at. It had undoubtedly recorded the mysterious sphere and the direction it came from. Panicking, Lucario jumped down from the steeple, away from the crowd in front of the school and began to sprint back to the woods. He was relieved to see that most of the streets were empty. The people of the street he made his way down were either at work or watching the news of the fire on their TV. This made his escape back to the forest rather simple and he was soon under the cover of the forest once again.

Pleased with his escape and the lives he had saved, Lucario slowed down as he realized this wasn't the same forest as before. Undeterred, he continued till he saw a small log cabin. Upon seeing this he froze, fearing that someone would spot him. Quickly driving behind a tree, Lucario used his aura vision to scan the cabin. To his relief the cabin was deserted, and had been for at several years based on the stale aura around it.

"Maybe I can make this my home for now." Lucario thought, hopefully, to himself. "It appears to have been deserted some time ago." He approached the entrance to the cabin and found it unlocked. Opening the door, he looked around and was surprised to see that the inside was more of a house than a cabin. There was a small kitchen, two medium-sized beds, a small table, and a TV. Looking up, he also realized that there was a ceiling fan and lights. Lucario saw the light switch next to the door and flicked it on. This however also turned on the fan, which preceded to stirrup all the dust that had collected in the cabin over the years. Coughing, Lucario dove out of the cabin and waited for the dust storm the fan had created to die down. After a few minutes, the dust seemed to have gone out the door and windows Lucario had opened from the outside. Stepping back inside, he concluded that he would stay here for the time being. While it lacked the beauty of his natural home back in Saldara, it would keep him hidden and safe from the elements.

"Crude but it will suffice." Lucario said in a blunt tone as he explored the little cabin; he quickly noticed that all the furniture had plastic covering. The floor for most of the cabin was a dark blue carpet. He also noticed that the kitchen was not a normal kitchen, but more of a campsite, which deeply clashed with the rest of the cabin. It had a spot, a hole to be exact, for a campfire with a small tunnel for the smoke to escape, some fake logs as chairs, and an iron kettle. The only thing in the kitchen that one thought to find in a kitchen was a refrigerator, a small one at that. Lucario open it and was relieved to see that it was empty, rotten food smelled terrible. Leaving the kitchen, he decided to rest some more. Pulling one of the plastic covers off a bed and turning off the lights, Lucario lied down as the sun set.

"At least it is peaceful here." He said as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Well there is chapter 2, hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Next chapter I will introduce another Pokémon, hope you will like my choice. I will hopefully have the next chapter up soon. As always please review and like, if you want, but I would love some feedback.


	3. Cohort Part I

Well, here is chapter 3. Hope you all enjoy. Still looking for some more feedback though. Oh, I just realized that I forgot to point out that I use some sarcasm, which is kind of hard to portray over the internet. Don't know if that helps of not, but figured it might cause some confusion.

**UPDATED 4-3-13**

* * *

Act I: Revelation

Chapter 3: Cohort Part I

After waking up from his nights rest, Lucario decided to look around the area surrounding the cabin. One of the first things he noticed as a small well under some trees not too far off. He spent some time testing the well and fixing it up. To his delight the water from the well was cool and fresh. After getting some more fruit from some nearby trees, Lucario returned to the cabin. Eyeing the TV, he decided to see if it still worked. He walked over, put the apples he had gathered down on the table, and hit the power button on the TV. Sure enough, the TV popped to life. What Lucario saw, however, shocked him; it was news footage from yesterday's fire. The news anchor was interviewing the teacher he had helped escape.

"So, Mrs. Lytle, you said that you received help in your escape from the building. Would you mind explaining?"

"I will try my best, but I still do not know exactly what happened. I was teaching class when there was a series of explosions and the fire alarms started going off. I told my class to follow me and started to lead them out of the building. As we approached the main entrance, I stopped to do a head count and started sending the students out. All of the sudden, I heard a voice yell that the archway outside was about to collapse. The strange thing was that the voice seemed as if it was inside my head. I looked out the doors and saw that the archway was indeed about to fall and called the students back. After the dust had settled, I started to panic, but the voice I had heard before came back, saying to trust it. Not knowing what else to do, I did as it commanded. By the time we reached where I was told to go, the fire was coming at us from both sides of the hallway. I thought we were going to die. Then there was a small explosion that created a hole for us to escape." The teacher replied to the anchorman, still not entirely believing what had happened.

"I see; do you have any idea who or what was helping you, or what caused the hole that allowed you to escape?"

"No, I do not have the slightest idea as to who helped me, but my students and I owe our lives to him." Mrs. Lytle said with thankfulness showing evidently on her face.

"Well," said the anchorman said, "I might be able to shed some light on the situation. One of our cameras caught sight of a mysterious orb that appears to have created the exit you escaped from. I tried to focus the camera on the spot where the orb seemed to originate from, but only caught one blurry frame of someone jumping from the steeple of the church. Play the clip."

With this the video switched to a recording of the fire. Sure enough, it showed the aura sphere slam into the building followed by the camera panning to focus on the steeple Lucario had been hiding in. After the clip had been replayed a few times, each time getting a little slower, the anchorman paused the video right before the end. Lucario shuddered at the picture, it wasn't very clear, but he could make out a blurry outline of himself from the shoulders up. He was relieved that the picture was not clear; those unfamiliar with how he looked probably won't be able to discern the small, white blur.

"I believe that would be the person, or being, which helped you escape. I found this frame to be very interesting. Our subject almost doesn't appear to be human with what appears to be two long, white ears and four large, black dreadlocks on the back of his head. So the question remains. Who is he, what is he, and how was he able to do what he did? If you have any information on this mystery hero, please contact our network."

After that, the program switched to a commercial, and Lucario turned off the TV.

"Too close" Lucario thought nervously, "Way to close, but not one should be able to figure out what happened, hopefully. I'll just have to stay low for a while, stay out of town."

Standing up, Lucario decided to explore the woods. After making a mental note of the cabin's location, he set off into the forest. Hours passed as he scouted a large area of the woods, which reminded him a little of his home. Upon coming to a clearing, Lucario decided to meditate. Sitting down and closing his eyes, the aura receptors on the back of his head lifted. He chose to meditate on the changes to his body and his aura. First, he dove into his memories to try to find out exactly what had happened at the lab. However, after an extended amount of time, he could not recall anything other than being knocked out then waking back up in his cell. Frustrated, he thought it would be best if he changed over to examining his aura, no longer the blue it had been, but a bright purple color. Lucario accepted the changes to his physical appearance as possible, but was having trouble understanding how his aura had been changed. He felt as if something had been added to and mixed with his aura; he sensed that it was dark energy.

"Why do I have dark energy inside of me?" Lucario thought confused. "I am a fighting/ steel type, not a dark type." He continued his meditation for about an hour but came up with nothing again.

Seeing that the sun was starting to get low in the sky, Lucario started to return to the cabin. He did not get far before he stopped, sensing a surge of activity not too far away. Thinking swiftly, Lucario jumped into a nearby tree and waited. He closed his eyes and tried to discern what was coming his way. He was shocked to sense a Pokémon running toward him; however, it was being chased by three beings. Focusing even harder, he saw that the three beings were a dog and two humans.

"Hunters," Lucario thought scowling at his luck. "This is great, just great."

The dog had cornered the Pokémon by the tree Lucario was hiding in, and a few minutes passed when the two hunters appeared.

The first hunter looked down at the small, black and red Pokémon. "What kind of animal do you suppose that is, Ralph? Kind of looks like a fox, but not one I have ever seen before."

"I don't know, Mike, maybe we found some new species of fox. Let's catch it and bring it back to town, maybe someone there will know." Mike replied, just as confused as his partner was. He gave a shrill whistle and the dog came back to his side.

Lucario, watching the events unfold from his tree top perch, knew that if the Pokémon, which he recognized as a Zorua, was taken to town, and then his secret would be at risk. He also knew that if the townspeople discovered Zorua's abilities, then the Pokémon would most likely be put through painful experiments.

"I know I am going to regret doing this," Lucario said quietly to himself. "Ah, screw it."

Lucario let out a loud roar as he jumped down from the tree he was in. Landing on all four in between the hunters and the Zorua, he continued a low, menacing growl.

Shocked by the appearance of the frightening white Pokémon, the hunters fled in terror, screaming bloody murder. The dog however, stood its ground and growled back at Lucario. Neither of the two canines backed down. Lucario, noticing that the hunters were long gone, stood up to his full height and formed a purplish bone across his paws. Letting out another terrifying growl, Lucario stepped toward the now frightened hound. The show of force was too much for the hunting dog, it now fled after the hunters with its tail in between its legs.

Smiling and full of pride after shaming his opponent, Lucario turned to the small fox Pokémon, but quickly got rid of the smile upon making eye contact with it.

"You're welcome." Lucario said it a blunt tone before starting to walk away.

Zorua, first shocked by the appearance of another Pokémon in the region, then terrified by its frightening appearance in front of her, was now curious why it had not shown any emotion toward her after saving her.

"Hey, wait up," she yelled, "Where are you going?"

But before she could get an answer, the Lucario, white she noticed, sprinted off faster than anything she had seen before. Shocked once again at the rudeness of the Pokémon, Zorua followed it through the woods. She soon lost sight of the Lucario and started to walk, following its scent.

When Lucario returned to the cabin, he was exhausted; he had sprinted for at least an hour. He went over to the well and brought up a bucket of water, which he quickly drained. Walking over to some of the nearby fruit trees, Lucario picked a few pears and went inside the cabin. He knew those hunters would go all the way back to town and report to the news about what they had seen. Lucario hoped they wouldn't believe him, but he knew the chances of that were slim, especially after his appearance on TV. He began to wonder if the hunters would come back, either to try to find Zorua again or to get back at him. Too tired to care any longer, Lucario got in bed and went to sleep.

Lucario slept for a few hours when he jolted awake. He could sense something coming toward the cabin. Closing his eyes, Lucario began to focus on the intruding force. He was stunned at whom he discovered; it was Zorua, who had been following Lucario's scent for the past few hours.

"How did she find me? Too late now, might as well face the music." Lucario said to himself. He got out of the bed and walked over to the door and waited for the fox Pokémon to reach it. When Zorua reached the door, he opened it swiftly, startling her.

"How did you find me?" Lucario asked in a rather harsh tone.

"Your scent, you reek. When was the last time you bathed?" Zorua replied with a mocking tone.

Lucario stopped after hearing Zorua's comment. He thought about when was the last time he had bathed; realizing it was longer than he thought.

"Neat place you got here. Can I stay here too?" Zorua asked as she trotted past Lucario.

Lucario knew there was no avoiding it, she knew where he was staying and she most likely would not leave even if he said no. On a more caring thought, he also didn't want the hunters to catch her again.

"Fine, you can stay here." Lucario said with a terse tone. "Just don't bother me. You can sleep in this bed if you want." Lucario walked over and pulled the plastic cover off the other bed before climbing back into his. He closed his eyes but before he could get to sleep Zorua came up to him and asked him something that brought back memories he was trying to forget.

"Why are you so stingy? You cared enough to save me from those hunters but did not do anything else before running off. I found that to be very rude" Zorua commented, not knowing that she had just struck a nerve.

Lucario sat up, turned to Zorua with an angry flare in his eyes.

"You want to know why I seem mad all the time. It is because I don't trust anyone; I don't get close to people for any reason. The only reason I am letting you stay here is because I don't want those hunters don't hurt you. If I had confidence that they would not come back, I would have personally sent you packing." Lucario shouted at Zorua, stopping after seeing her cower and take a few steps back. "Look, I am sorry; I should not have exploded at you like that. I just don't like to talk about my past. Good night."

Realizing that it would be best not to press the issue any further, Zorua hopped into the empty bed. However, she wasn't through yet, she could be very determined and would break him open. She knew that brooding on the past would not help anyone.

Zorua woke to find a pile of mixed fruit and a bowl of water on the table. She hopped out of the bed and went over to the table to eat. Noting that the fruit was neatly organized next to the bowl, Zorua began to think that she was right about Lucario. That he wasn't always a grouch and deep down he cared for everyone. She had started to eat when Lucario walked in the door. Zorua looked in his direction and smiled.

"Good morning." Zorua said cheerfully, hoping for a response from the isolated Pokémon; all she got in return was a loud grunt.

Lucario walked over to the TV, turned it on, and sat down with an apple in his mouth. Zorua was confused as to why Lucario would even be interested in watching TV and decided to ask him about it.

"Why are you watching TV? You don't seem like one who would sit around and do nothing." Zorua asked quizzically. This only earned her a leer in response, but a sigh followed and she knew she would get an answer.

"I want to see if there is anything on the news about our little adventure yesterday. Chances are that those hunters went straight to some news station."

"Why would they go there and not to the police or something?"

"Because I was on the news yesterday, they showed a blurry picture of me from my shoulders up, and if those hunters watched the news, they might be able to put two and two together."

"You were on the news!" Zorua said, shocked that the reclusive Pokémon had gone anywhere near the town. "Why were you one the news?"

"Because I helped a group of people escape from a burning building, I created a hole for the trapped group to escape with an aura sphere after guiding them to the spot where I made the hole. However, a camera team recorded my aura sphere and tried to catch where it had come from. Luckily for me, I jumped down before they could get a good shot of me. Happy now, or do you have more questions?"

Before Zorua could ask another question, the TV came up with the news station Lucario had been hoping for.

"Today we have two hunters who claim to have made a run in with our mysterious hero from yesterday, but they are not sure about how beneficial he really is. Gentlemen, would you mind sharing your story."

"Sure, it started off as any other day of hunting," one of the hunters started, Lucario recognized this one was Mike, "when Ralph's hound picked up on the scent of an animal and started out after it. The chase went on for a good ten minutes before his dog cornered the animal. When we caught up and we saw an animal unlike anything I have ever seen before." At this point, the other hunter chimed in.

"It looked kind of like a small fox, but it had a black body with areas of red on it, notably its feet. I called my dog back to my side and discussed with Mike what we should do with it. We decided to catch the animal and bring it back to town, but before we could do anything, another animal jumped out of a tree and landed in between us and the fox. The animal sort of looked like a white wolf but not like any wolf I had ever seen. The next thing I knew, we were running as fast as we could away from there, screaming at the top of our lungs."

Lucario chuckled at this remembering how they sounded like little girls as they ran off, but stopped when he saw Zorua looking up at him. Lucario looked back at the TV as Ralph continued his story.

"We get back to where we had parked the truck when we heard a bush rustling behind us. Thinking that it was that white animal, we climbed onto the truck scared for our lives. However, it turned out to be my hound; the poor thing was scared out of its mind."

Once again Lucario smiled upon remembering his small victory, but returned to his passive face when he noticed Zorua looking up at him again. Mike was now talking.

"We then high tailed it out of there and drove here. That animal is the same thing we saw on the news yesterday, we know this, and it isn't a friend of this town. It is a demon, I am telling you'll."

"It would seem that our fair little town has quite the mystery brewing up," concluded the newsman, "Tomorrow I will discuss the possible causes of the fire that started this mystery."

* * *

"Sir, did you see the news clip I sent you?" asked Lieutenant Hopper.

"Yes and good job lieutenant. I believe that the complex must have appeared in that general area. Where was that clip from?" replied General Marshal.

"The footage was from a town south of Oured, which means doing any large scale reconnaissance missions will be difficult to do because of the town's proximity to the Osean capital city."

"Just the luck I need," sighed the general, "Guess we have to do this the old fashioned way. Send out two small spec ops units with orders to gather information, nothing else."

"Yes sir."

Lieutenant Hopper left the general's quarters to relay his commands.

"Mysterious animals with destructive powers, this could prove to be my greatest find." General Marshall confided with himself.

* * *

Well, there was Chapter 3, hope you all enjoyed and liked my decision to add Zorua. As always please review.


	4. Cohort Part II

Here is chapter 4, hope you enjoy. Also, if you notice some blaring errors, please PM or tell me in a review, I do read over the chapters before I put them up, but sometimes my brain auto-corrects stuff for me or I just miss mistakes.

**UPDATED 4-9-13**

I made one serious mistake this chapter. Totally forgot that they don't have the berries from their dimension here. I feel like an idiot, anyway that has been fixed.

* * *

Act I: Revelation

Chapter 4: Cohort Part II

Lucario got up and left the cabin with a curious, but determined Zorua trailing at his feet. It was already past noon but he figured that this would be a short outing. Zorua was quietly skipping along behind Lucario, excited that he was letting her follow him. She was determined to continue last night's conversation and get Lucario to open up and move on with is life instead of brooding on his dark past. Zorua knew from personal experience that this would only hold Lucario back. She decided to at least try to get him to at least talk more. She hoped that if he is willing to talk, maybe Lucario would open up a little bit. The two Pokémon explored the forest for a prolonged amount of time before she spoke up.

"Where do you think we are anyway?" Zorua asked.

Lucario glared down at the Pokémon skipping along behind him and sighed.

"To my knowledge, we are on a different world." Lucario replied knowing that more questions would follow.

"How do you know that?"

"I had a vision."

"What kind of vision?"

"A vision of the future I guess." Lucario replied in an annoyed tone, knowing that still more questions would follow. However, for some reason, he did not feel the urge to stop answering Zorua's questions. It had been a very long time since he had had an actual conversation with someone else.

"Wait, you can see into the future?" Zorua stopped walking and stared up at Lucario. "I did not know any Pokémon could see into the future. How did you learn to do that?"

"I didn't learn how to, nor did I always look like this. Whatever the people back at the lab did to me; well, it changed more than I can explain or understand. I guess the visions are part of what they did to me. Did they you any experiments on you while you were there?"

The question caught Zorua off guard; she had not been expecting Lucario to ask her any questions.

"No, I had just arrived the morning the accident happened. What do you suppose brought us to this world?

"I don't know, but I intend to find out and get back home."

There was a brief silence before Lucario heard Zorua mumble something under her breath, just barely making out what she had said thanks to his powerful ears.

"Home…."

Lucario looked down at Zorua, who all of the sudden looked sad. He could even feel strong waves of sadness emanating from her. This puzzled Lucario, who didn't understand the sudden mood shift in Zorua. They continued their walk until they came to a lake. Lucario looked around for a place for them to relax. He and Zorua walked over to a tall, shady tree and sat down. After sitting down, Lucario looked down at Zorua, who was still emitting waves of sadness.

"I know I am going to regret doing this," Lucario thought to himself, "But it needs to be done. Even if it violates my number one rule: _Don't trust or get close to anyone._ It is already too late for most of that; I have already started to care a little for her."

"Zorua," Lucario said softly, "I can sense something is bothering you. What's wrong? Just a few minutes ago you were happy as can be; now you're sad as a ghostly past."

Zorua was shocked by Lucario's question early, but she was completely astonished by this one.

"Why do you care all of the sudden? I thought you only stayed to yourself." Zorua said sheepishly, almost crying in the process.

"Because it pains me to see others in agony," Lucario replied wholeheartedly, "This is a new world for us, a place for new beginnings."

Zorua looked up at Lucario with tears in her eyes. She could see that genuinely was worried for her by the look on his face. She could no longer bare the troubles of her past because she had found someone who appeared to care for her, even if it was only a little. Zorua decided it would be wise to tell her story; she thought that it might even have an effect on Lucario, but she doubted it would.

"When I was just a pup, my father and I were very close. We had great times, even though my mother had died when I was still in my egg. We would go around and cause mischief to Pokémon and humans alike. One of the favorite things he taught me was how to create illusions around myself and others near me. We would go into a nearby town, each of us disguising ourselves, and cause a little trouble here and there. The best memory I have of us doing this was when we made a baker and the other people think that the bakery was on fire. They fled in panic out the side door and we got ourselves some of the baked goods. It was great fun that I thought would last forever; I was wrong.

"One day when my father was out gathering food for us, a young trainer found our den and tried to catch me. I was able to beat back two of his Pokémon but his third one, a Gallade, got the best of me." This was when Lucario first noticed something in Zorua's aura; there were trace amounts of guilt and fear in it. "I saw that my father had just returned when I was hit by a Pokéball. I thought that he would save me but he never did. After a while, there was a bright flash and I found myself in a kitchen. The boy was showing me to his mother; I was absolutely terrified. However, I got lucky; the boy's mother disapproved of me and told him to take me back to where he had found me. The boy did as his mother said and took me back to the general area of my den. There, he released my and left. Truthfully, I felt kind of sad for the boy.

"When I got back to the den, my father was at the entrance, but he did not look happy. When I approached him, he let out a low growl. My father had never growled at me before and I was startled by this. He told me that I had disgraced him by being defeated so easily and that I was no longer his daughter. Before I could say anything, he ran off and left me by myself. I was alone from that point on; no other Pokémon would come near me." Zorua was softly crying by this point and Lucario moved his paw to comfort her. "I would often disguise myself as a little girl and go into town to see if anyone would give me food. There were some kind families in town who would give me the scraps of their meals. This went on for about a year before I was caught by the people from the lab and brought there. You are the first person I have really talked to since my dad left me."

Lucario stared at Zorua with a shocked expression on his face; he hadn't known what she had been through. She had a very troubling past, no were near as bad as his but bad enough that no one should have to go through. She had not let it show at all and Lucario felt terrible for treating her as he did. He sat there and listened to Zorua cry while patting her gently on the back with his paw, trying to comfort her. His own tears were making their way down his face as memories of his own parents flooded his mind. Although he was puzzled by the feeling of guilt that Zorua had radiated when she was telling him her story. A short amount of time passed and Lucario noticed that Zorua had fallen asleep. Seeing that they had spent most of the afternoon in the woods and that it was starting to get dark, Lucario carefully picked up the sleeping fox Pokémon and started back to the cabin.

About halfway back to the cabin Zorua sleepily opened her eyes to see Lucario holding her close to his chest, cradling her with his arms. Lucario looked down at her and gave a small smile before returning his eyes to the path. She was surprised at how warm and soft the fur on his torso was; it made her feel relaxed and carefree. Zorua looked to the night sky, it was very clear and she could see a great multitude of stars. She was about to close her eyes when she saw a shooting star. Remembering the stories her father had told her and how shooting stars granted wishes, she closed her eyes and made a wish before drifting back to sleep.

* * *

Lucario got back to the cabin late at night. He decided that he had to find a way to cheer up Zorua, not knowing if her gloom would be temporary or last longer. Either way, he had to make it up to her for being a total jerk for the past day or two. However, he did not know what Zorua liked, but he did know a way he could find out. After carefully setting Zorua down on her bed, Lucario sat down on the floor and took up his meditating position. He closed his eyes and began to focus his aura. He shifted his mind to Zorua and entered her mind.

While what he was doing would most likely be considered intrusive by most, Lucario had developed this skill to extreme precision. He would block out everything else other than what he was searching for as not to intrude on others personal memories, unless of course, those were what he was seeking. Lucario searched Zorua's mind for what item made her the most happy. He did not have to look far, for the memory he was looking for was front and center in her mind. Lucario could not help himself as he smiled.

Lucario decided to act on the information he had gathered from Zorua's mind. He recalled that there had been a bakery in the nearby town. Technically what he was about to do was illegal; but he decided to leave something behind as payment. Lucario left the cabin with a sack and a blanket from his bed. He went over to the nearby apple tree and picked enough apples to fill the sack to its brim before heading off to town.

Upon reaching the edge of the forest, Lucario wrapped himself in the blanket, hoping to hide his shape from anyone who happened to see him. While he was hopeful that he would not encounter anyone this late at night, he would rather be safe than sorry. He set off down the street toward where the bakery was located; upon reaching his destination, Lucario used the spike on the back of his wrist to cut a perfect circular hole in the glass door. Carefully extracting the small piece of glass, Lucario reached through the hole and unlocked the door. He took a deep breathe; knowing that if the alarm was set, he would have to make yet another speedy escape from town. Lucario open the door, cringing. To his relief, no alarm went off and he proceeded to search for a small cake. Finding what he was looking for in a small refrigerated display area; Lucario took the cake, already in a box, and set the sack of apples in its place. Swiftly, he left the building and relocked the door before making his way back to the cabin.

Lucario approached the cabin with caution, not wanting his surprise to be spoiled. He sensed that Zorua was still asleep and quietly slipped in and put the cake in the mini-fridge, which was barely big enough. Exhausted to no end, Lucario crawled into his bed and passed out.

When morning came, Zorua was surprised to see that Lucario was still asleep. Based on yesterday morning, she had figured that we woke up early in the morning. She was slow to remember the events that had happened last night. She became worried that Lucario would mock her, but she remembered that he had carried her back last night. She recalled how comfortable Lucario's fur was and the gentle smile he had shown her. This got rid of most of her fears, but not all of them. Zorua was startled by a sudden thud behind her and realized Lucario had rolled off his bed, but she noticed that he had done this on purpose, landing on all four of his paws with an exact precision. Lucario looked over at Zorua and yawned, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Good morning," chimed Zorua, hoping for more than a dissatisfied grunt this time, but not excepting anything more. To her surprise, she did; Lucario gave a small nod accompanied by a smile. While the display was far from showing any true affection, it was an improvement that she had not expected. Maybe her story had had an effect on him.

Lucario look down at Zorua with his usual indifferent look, but was smiling on the inside. He knew she would be blown away by his little surprise.

"Zorua," Lucario said in his usual indifferent tone of voice, "Would you mind going outside for a while. There is something I need to do."

"Umm, okay." Zorua said sheepishly, not sure why Lucario did not want her to see what he was going to do.

As soon as Zorua had left the cabin, Lucario rushed over to the refrigerator and pulled out the box with the cake. Carefully removing the cake from the box, Lucario set it on the table. Next, he walked to door and opened it, slowing; making sure Zorua was not looking in his direction. He was relieved to see her off by the woods. Moving swiftly, he gathered several types of berries, not the exact ones he needed, but ones that were quite similar, and returned to the cabin. Pulling out a small bowl from the kitchen, Lucario mashed the berries into a thick paste and began to spell out something on the cake with the berry paste. Finishing this, Lucario walked back to the door and called out to Zorua.

"Zorua, I am done you can come back now." Lucario said indifferently, effectively hiding his true emotions as Zorua walked past him. "Breakfast is ready on the table."

"You had me leave so you could prepare breakfast?" Zorua said with a confused look on her face. "You're not trying to poison me or something are you?"

"Wow, and I thought I was the one with trust issues. Hope you enjoy what I have prepared; I prepared it especially for you for this day." Lucario said with a small smirk on his face.

"Yep, he is definitely trying to poison me. This has got to be about last night, I knew he would mock me." Zorua thought to herself, not noticing Lucario winching as he had entered he mind once again. This time he wasn't there for information, just to see how see would really react. He almost regretted this as there was soon a high pitched squeal coming from the fox's mind. Breaking the link with Zorua's mind and shaking his head to clear his mind, Lucario looked up at Zorua to see her jumping off the table and running around the table in pure joy.

"How did you know?" Zorua asked tackling him in the process. "How did you know today was my birthday?"

"I am a Lucario of many talents." He replied with a small smile on his face, but surprised himself at how indifferent his response had really come out.

"No really, how did you know?"

"Umm, I kind of read your mind when you were sleeping last night." He replied sheepishly rubbing the back of his head with his paw. Most people did not like other people in their minds. He opened his mouth to continue, but was interrupted by a now stunned Zorua.

"YOU READ MY MIND!" Zorua screamed with mixtures of anger and surprise. "You better not have…."

"Relax," interrupted Lucario, stunned at the sudden lashing out, "I have developed that skill to an exact precision. I blocked out everything else."

"You can do that? How did you learn to do that?" Zorua asked with curiosity and a hint of anger.

"While I was being held captive by different organizations, I got bored and found out that I could enter other people's minds using their aura. I started prying the minds of my captors. Some of them had seen things I just didn't need to know, so I learned to block it out anything I wasn't searching for; which was mostly a way to escape. I came close a few times but never actually made it."

"You better not be lying. If you are, I will tear you to shreds."

"Just like those hunters?" Lucario retorted with a sly smile across his face. "How about you enjoy your cake, I think you will like the paste I made. I am sorry if you feel offended by what I did, I promise I won't enter your mind again. You have my word."

Zorua looked up at Lucario and saw that he meant what he said. Her anger at him quickly melted away when she had a piece of the cake, quickly recognizing the paste as the one her father made her as a pup, or at least very similar to it. She was about to ask Lucario how he knew when she remembered that he read her mind.

"So do you like it?" Lucario asked from his position of leaning against the wall.

"Like it? I love it!" Zorua replied with a giant smile across her face. "Would you like some?"

"No thanks, I don't do human sweets." Lucario said as he walked over to the TV and turned it one. He popped some of the remaining berries into his mouth and sat down on the couch. After wait for a bit, the news channel came up once again as Zorua finished eating her birthday cake.

"Our mysterious character appeared again last night. Breaking into a bakery and taking a cake; however, he did leave behind a sack full of apples as what could only be described as a payment."

This caused Lucario to flinch; he had not detected the aura of anyone, how did anyone know. He knew that they would figure out that someone had broken in, but how did they know it was him.

"A security camera in the bakery captured him cutting through the glass with amazing precision and unlocking the door. However, he had draped himself in some kind of cloth, but we were able to make out his ears and tail. After retrieving a cake and leaving the apples in its place, the mysterious creature swiftly exited the shop." As the newsman said this, the picture switched over the footage from the camera and played it several times.

"You broke into a bakery and stole a cake for me?" Zorua looked up Lucario with a mischievous smile on her face. "We are more alike than I thought."

"However, I will now be getting back to today's main topic: the possible causes of the school fire. There are two main possibilities that authorities have deemed as plausible. The first is that there was a gas leak that somehow combusted. The second is that Belkan terrorists planted bombs in the school. Authorities believe that it is more likely that explosives were the cause of the fire."

Suddenly Lucario felt a strange sensation come over him and quickly turned off the TV so he could focus. Sitting down, he closed his eyes and let his mind go blank. Zorua was startled by his sudden burst of activity and began to wonder what had happened. Her fear grew when a purple flame appeared around Lucario and engulfed him. She could feel that the flame gave off no heat even though it was immensely bright. Soon the flame dissipated and Lucario opened his eyes.

"Umm, what just happened?" Zorua asked, still worried. "You were engulfed in some kind of purple flame. I was scared."

"So that is what I look like when that happens." Lucario said in a very serious tone.

"What happened?" Zorua asked feeling worried at Lucario's tone.

"I had another vision."

"What was it about?"

"Trouble."

* * *

Well, there is chapter 4. And for the love of God people. Someone give me a review. I already know the two people who have reviewed this story already and would like some feedback from someone I haven't talked to before. Putting that aside, the next chapter be more exciting, I promise.


	5. Exposure

Well, here is chapter 5, hope you all enjoy, as always please review and contact me if you see some blaring error. Finally had someone I haven't contacted before write a review, so thanks to Mewfan15-NL. Anyways here goes nothing.

**UPDATED: 4-16-13**

* * *

Act I: Revelation

Chapter 5: Exposure

* * *

"Trouble, what do you mean by trouble?" Zorua asked Lucario with apprehension in her eyes.

"Trouble for both of us and the nearby town if we don't manage to stop those fools," Lucario replied, anger audible in his voice, "They are going to burn down the whole forest down trying to flush us out!"

"Who is going to set the forest on fire?"

"Those hunters, and this time they are bringing friends. Come on, we have to stop them before they burn the entire region to the ground!" Lucario said as he sprinted out the door with Zorua following in his tracks. They ran silently for a while before Zorua spoke up.

"What are you planning on doing?" Zorua asked, struggling to keep up with Lucario.

"Scare them off before they do something stupid. If they don't back down, I will knock them out cold and take them back to town."

"That might make you look bad, and you don't really need any more bad press. Are you sure that is a good idea?"

"What, you want me to try and talk them down?" Lucario said with a snarl. He was not a talker, he was a fighter. "Why didn't you talk them down last time?"

"I was scared." Zorua replied sheepishly. "That and I don't know telepathy like you."

"Fear is useless; it will only cloud your mind. One must find ways to block out fear so that one can think clearly and swiftly. I accomplished this with heavy training; you will have to find your own method."

After running a little while longer, the two Pokémon came to the edge of the forest. Slowing down so they would not be noticed, and then stopping a short distance inside the trees. Lucario used his aura vision to determine just what he was up against. He saw a large group of hunters alongside a row of pickup trucks; each holding either an AR-15 or some form of hunting rifle. He also noticed something that would make this much more difficult, a news van. No matter what he did, he knew he would end up on the news, again.

"Maybe Zorua was right." Lucario thought to himself. "If I attack them now, I will be branded as a demon. This would make my life much more difficult than I need it to be."

"Fine, I'll try this your way." Lucario sighed, defeated. "However, if negotiations break down, I will take down every last one of these hunters."

"Thank you for trying." Zorua replied. "It would be in our best interest to keep up our reputation while we are here. We don't need the police or anyone trying to hunt us down. That would only lead to more fighting and I don't like fighting."

"Don't like fighting! How could you not…." Lucario started but did not have time to finish as the posse of hunters started moving to the forest; gas cans in hand. "We will finish this conversation later; I have to stop these idiots."

Lucario jumped up into a tree on the edge of the clearing and focused his aura, drawing large amounts of energy. He then opened a telepathic link with the entire group of hunters about to enter the forest.

_"Trying to burn me out like some dumb beast?"_ Lucario sent out in a mocking tone."_That would not even have come close to working. The only thing you would have accomplished is burning this forest and your town to the ground. Leave and let us be before you doing something detrimental."_

The entire company of hunters froze immediately, each startled at the sudden voice in their head. Some even took a few steps backward. However, one hunter stepped out in front of the rest. Lucario instantly saw that it was Mike.

"Listen here beast; I don't fear you." He shouted out, hoping to instill confidence in the other hunters. "I will personally see to it that you will do no harm to our town or its residents. We will make sure you cease to exist, demon."

"_Really, you don't fear me? I don't recall ever telling you to fear me. Besides, last time we met, you ran off like a little girl before I even did anything."_ Lucario prodded, insulting the hunter's pride. _"Besides, what have I done to earn your spite? You humans appear to lack even common sense. I have done no harm to you or your town. Now leave."_ Lucario emphasized his last words, hoping to intimidate his opponents.

"You attack us in the woods and steal from our town yet you claim to have done nothing. And you say that we lack common sense. You are nothing but a brute."

"_I attacked you? I seem to recall you were hunting down an innocent friend of mine. Do I not have the right to defend her? I never attacked you, you even admitted to running off in fear of me. While taking from that bakery was wrong, I did leave behind a more than ample payment. So I did not attack you nor did I 'steal' from your town."_

By this point, some of the other hunters had regained their morale and had started advancing toward the tree line. They had their rifles at the ready, unsure of what was to follow. Lucario quickly formed an aura sphere about the size of a marble and flung it in their path. While the sphere was small, it was not weak. Blast was more than enough to startle the hunters back to their former position.

_"I suggest you don't try that again. I will only say this once more. Leave."_

"We aren't leaving until you are dealt with." One of the hunters who were forced back yelled out. His group began to advance on the forest for the second time. Lucario shook his head slowly.

_"You guys just won't learn will you?"_ He quickly summoned several marble sized aura spheres and flung them around the advancing hunters. The multitude of small explosions created a nice dust storm and engulfed the small posse.

Lucario then did a front flip out of the tree, and landed in the dust cloud he had created. He quickly lunged out at the startled group, using Force Palm to smash their guns into pieces. After breaking the last weapon, Lucario leap back into the cover of the forest as the dust cloud began to subside. Lucario's attack had taken mere seconds and the other hunters had not had any time to help their comrades.

"_Have you all learned your lesson, or do I need to continue?"_ Lucario's voice came out in a clear mocking tone. The group of hunters whose rifles had been broken fled back to their trucks in terror. The next group of hunters had already started to advance on the woods, but with more caution than the last group.

"_Still not getting it are you? You aren't going to win this."_

Lucario once again bolted out of the woods, not bothering to put up a screen like last time. This time he used Bone Rush to either break the rifles or knock them out of the hunters' hands, using his agility to bring the bone down on the rifle and continue to the next one with amazing speed. This took longer than his previous attack and the final group of hunters came to assist their partners. Lucario could sense them coming and was ready for them when they arrived. He stood still as the hunters lined up in front of him.

"What's the matter demon? Know your beat?" Mike chimed. "Any last words before we remove you from this world?"

But Lucario still did nothing; he just stood still, focusing his aura around his hands. All the hunters raised their rifles and aimed at Lucario. Right before the hunters unleashed their volley of fire, Lucario used the aura he stored to make a protective field around himself. Much to the hunters' surprise, the bullets simply bounced off the wolf like creature, which now held a purple orb of light in his paw. The color drained from every one of their faces.

_"Now it is_ _my turn."_ Lucario thought, as he fired the aura sphere at the feet of the hunters. The blast wave threw the remaining hunters to the ground. Lucario casually walked into the group of hunters, who were still on the ground and used Force Palm to break the remaining rifles. Mike slowly got to his feet and stared at Lucario.

"What are you?" He asked with abject terror on his eyes. Lucario looked over at Mike, but the ferocity that had been in Lucario's eyes had left, replaced by his usual indifference. Lucario eyed the hunter and his group before turning to face them.

"_I am Lucario. My friend and I, along with others, are from another world. There, we are known as Pokémon. My species is known for our high standards and warrior like behavior. I will never bring harm to those who do not deserve it. The reason only I exposed myself to you like this was to stop you from burning this entire area to the ground."_

"Another world? You mean you are aliens?" Mike replied with confused tone. "And how did you know we would burn down the forest. We were only going to start a few small, controlled fires.

"_No, we are not aliens,"_ Lucario replied, shaking his head, _"perhaps dimension is a better word. How I knew is none of your concern, and fire is not so easily controlled. Now it is my turn to ask questions, where are we?"_

"Where are we? We are in the forest south of Angola, which is south of Oured, the capital of the Osean Federation. Now, how did you find us so easily and why were we not able to kill you?"

"_Aura is the answer to both of your questions."_ Lucario formed a small purple flame in his hand and showed it to the astonished humans._ "Aura is the life force of every living organism and my race is the masters of aura. We can sense and manipulate it to our will."_ The flame then disappeared and Lucario's eyes once again gleamed with ferocity. _"Now, leave us be and do not look for us again, or I will do more than break your guns."_ Lucario warned as he leaped into the air and landed in a tree before disappearing into the woods. He noticed that the news team had filmed the entire battle and had clear footage of him. This would certainly be on the national news tonight.

"Zorua, where are you?" Lucario called out after getting back to where he had left her.

"I'm over here." Zorua replied from behind a nearby tree. "Thanks for not hurting them. It means a lot to me."

"Yeah well, don't mention it." Lucario retorted, frustrated at Zorua's reluctance to fight. "Let's head back to the cabin, we have a long trip ahead of us tomorrow. We need to get ready tonight so that we can leave early in the morning."

"Why are we leaving? I like the cabin." Zorua asked confused as to what was going on. "Where are we going?"

"I still don't trust those hunters and I fear others may get involved. We need to get out of this area so we are not found. As for where we are going, we are actually going closer to the city."

"Why are we going closer to the city if we are trying to get away from people? Shouldn't we be going away from the city?"

"I have a bad feeling that something will happen to the city. I want to get familiar with it just in case."

"So you had another vision?"

"No, I didn't have a vision; it is just a feeling in my gut. Oh, and tomorrow we start your training."

"My WHAT!?" Zorua screamed at Lucario. "What part of 'I do not like fighting' did you not get?"

"The 'not' part, as long as we are in this dimension, you need to know how to protect yourself."

"I thought you were going to protect me."

"I don't know if I will always be able to, and personally, I don't feel like doing this by myself."

"Fine, but I still disapprove of it. I am pretty weak." Zorua said sheepishly, shaking as the words left her mouth. Lucario was startled by the sudden amount of guilt that flooded from the small fox.

"That was a terrible lie, but I won't push it. You aura is far too strong for you to be 'weak'." Lucario retorted, hoping to evoke a response. Zorua stopped walking and looked up at the white aura Pokémon. Lucario sensed waves of fear behind him and stopped and turned around. When he looked into Zorua's eyes, he saw what she was afraid of; it was herself.

"You fear your own strength don't you?" Lucario said softly, realizing that was what she feared most and why she was reluctant to fight. Zorua nodded in reply. Lucario sat down in front of Zorua and took a deep breath. "How much of your story from last night was actually true?"

"Most of it, I was briefly captured and my dad did abandon me." Zorua replied, once again near crying. "However, I wasn't beaten by that trainer; I knocked out all six of his Pokémon. I was just too exhausted to break out of the Pokéball when he threw it at me. Also, my dad didn't abandon me because I was weak; he left me because he was afraid of me. I struggled to control my strength and it sometimes gets the better of me. I doubt there is a single Pokémon who could beat me in single combat."

Lucario got an idea after hearing the last part of Zorua's confession.

"Okay, I have a wager for you. When we get back to the cabin, we will have a battle. If you win, you don't have to train. However, if I win, you have to train under me till I see fit." Lucario offered in a serious tone and waited to see if Zorua would accept his challenge or not.

"Please don't fight me; I don't want to hurt you." Zorua pleaded. "You can't win and I will only end up hurting you."

"I am tougher and stronger than most; you would have to do a lot to hurt me." Lucario replied with a small laugh, not backing down.

"Fine, I accept you challenge." Zorua said, defeated. "I won't use my full power against you. I don't want to hurt you."

"No, you will everything you have against me. I will be using my full strength and I expect nothing less from you." Lucario said harshly, but then switched to a softer tone. "Now, let's get back to the cabin; we have much to do today."

The two Pokémon set off for their isolated home and did not talk for the rest of the way. Upon reaching the cabin, each gathered supplies for their journey. The supplies ranged from blankets to food and were packed into a small hiking backpack that fit Lucario perfectly. After setting the backpack on the table, he turned to Zorua.

"Are you ready?" Lucario asked Zorua, who was noticeably shaken about what was about to happen. She only nodded in reply. The two of them left the cabin and went to a small clearing not too far away. Each of them went to opposite corners of the field. Lucario took up a fighting stance as Zorua stood in her corner.

"I'll give you first move. Hit me with your most powerful attack." Lucario snarled at Zorua, ferocity once again burning in his eyes. Zorua only nodded in reply. She took a deep breath and her face was suddenly filled with determination. Her eyes began to glow blue as she lifted her front paws into the air. Soon her entire body was engulfed in crimson aura. Lucario couldn't help but stare at the display of raw power. He smiled to himself as he shook his head and began to focus his own aura around his arms and brought them up, crossed, in front of his face. Zorua brought her paws to the ground and the crimson aura that surrounded her body burst forward toward Lucario. The wave of aura sped toward him at a remarkable speed. Right before it reached him; he brought his arms down in an X and released the massive charge of aura stored in his arms.

There was a massive explosion that made Zorua cringe; she feared that Lucario had been blasted away by her attack. When she looked up at her Lucario had been standing, her face froze in shock as she saw him standing in the exact same spot with a smirk across his face.

"Powerful," Lucario started, "But crude. You took too long to prepare and you can't always out strength your opponent." He quickly charged up a small aura sphere and sent it flying toward Zorua, who was still in shock that anyone could not even be damaged by her Night Daze. She regained herself quickly and just barely managed to dodge the aura sphere just to be hit by another Lucario had fired from different spot.

"Sometimes it is better to put your energy into several small attacks instead of one large attack." Lucario chastised Zorua as he rushed toward her with Bone Rush. However, Zorua expertly evaded Lucario's attack and used Incinerate against Lucario. The attack scored a direct on a surprised Lucario, who winced at the burns.

"Very good using a fire type move against me, but you will have to do more than that to win this." Lucario then closed the distance between the two before Zorua could react and used Force Palm to send Zorua flying into a nearby tree. Zorua quickly got up and returned to the battlefield. She briskly charged up and fired another Night Daze at Lucario who easily dodged the attack but saw another one coming at him already. He drew some aura into his arms and raised them to block the attack. Lucario knew he wouldn't be able to counter that attack like last time and braced from the impact from the blast. The wave of crimson aura jolted him back a few feet as his paws skidded across the grass. The attack wasn't very effective because of Lucario's natural resistance to dark moves and the aura around his arms absorbed most of the blast.

"You learn quickly, but can you learn quick enough?" Lucario said with a small grin across his face as he once again charged at Zorua.

The duel between the two Pokémon continued for a good thirty minutes, and it wasn't going unnoticed. The initial blast at the beginning of the duel could be heard from a great many miles away. This included the Osean capital of Oured, which caused panic among the civilians of the city who feared another attack by Belkan terrorists. As a result, a force recon marine unit was being deployed by helicopter to investigate the explosions. Closer to the sparing grounds, however, the battle had attracted the attention of a news helicopter. The news helicopter had been filming most of the duel from a safe distance away. Under normal circumstances, Lucario would have sensed the crew, but he was too focused on the battle. The explosions and smoke also attracted the attention of the Belkan spec ops unit that had been deployed to the nearby town.

Lucario stood victoriously over Zorua with a purple bone at Zorua's back. The battle had been long and hard, but Lucario prevailed do to his superior stamina; he was only beginning to feel the effects of battle on his body. He was starting to calm down and return to his normal self.

"You are beaten." Lucario said, with only a slight hint of tire in his voice. "You are indeed powerful, but unrefined and untrained. If you wish to master your power, I can teach you. This will grant you more control over your abilities and increase your effectiveness in battle. We start your training tomorrow." Lucario finished his comments of Zorua's fighting style and helped her up with a small smile across his face. The duo started walking back into the forest when Lucario stopped; he quickly charged an aura sphere and shot it off toward the helicopter hovering off in the distance. He knew that it would not even come close to hitting the helicopter; it was just meant to scare them off. Which he successfully accomplished as the helicopter turned and sped off back to town. Now that there were no distractions around him, he could sense the auras of those for miles around him. There were two sets of auras that interested him particularly; one nearby closing slowly and another that was farther away but approaching much faster.

"Zorua, run back to the cabin, and create an illusion around it. Make it disappear, can you do that?" Lucario ordered Zorua. She nodded in reply, determination filling her eyes. She did not want to let Lucario down, not after all he had done for her. She hastily disappeared into the forest and left Lucario standing there by himself.

Lucario sat down and focused his aura; he decided to investigate the closer of the two groups first. Shifting his mind to the slowly approaching group, the first element that stood out from the group was their aura; it was deep red, the aura of evil. He let his mind enter the mind of one of the approaching bodies.

"This is Varyag actual, calling Varyag lead, what do you have to report?"

"Varyag lead reporting, the explosions have stopped. Varyag squad is proceeding to the area as planned to investigate."

"Very well, continue with caution and report back when you have finished your investigation, Varyag actual out."

"Roger, Varyag squad, precede with caution to recon the area. Varyag 2, come with me, we will recon the area to the east. Varyag 3 and 4, you recon the area to the west, we will meet at foxtrot 2-4 in fifteen mikes."

Lucario pulled his mind out of the group of soldiers. He gathered some information from the mind he had entered. Varyag squad was an elite Belkan spec ops unit. Their current orders were to find and track him down for military purposes. He had something to do with the Orion project. Lucario made a mental note to find out more about this Orion Project later. Lucario then switched over to the farther but rapidly approaching group. He was relieved to sense that their auras were a pure blue. He dove into the mind of the one closest to him.

"This is Viking lead, Vikings 2 and 3 stay on my tail. Our mission today is to investigate possible Belkan activity near Angola. There have been reports of large explosions in the forest south of the town. As you are also aware, this town was the recent sight of a terrorist attack on a school. In wake of the recent attack, there have also been reports of some sort of white animal in the area. We do not know of its intentions but take note of it if you see it. Do not engage or pursue the white animal; our primary mission is to search for Belkan activity in the area."

"This is Viking 2; we will pass the orders to the marines."

"Viking 3 here, orders understood. Viking 2, brief our marines as well."

"Viking 2 calling Hawk lead and Eagle lead, your orders are to search for Belkan activity in the forest south of Angola town. There have been reports of large explosions. We are here to identify the source of these explosions. Also, if you see a white animal, make a note of it for future notice. Viking 2 out."

Lucario also pried some information from the helicopter pilots. Viking squad was a marine helicopter unit composing of one AH-1W Super Cobra and two UH-60 Black Hawks with marine detachments, Hawk and Eagle squads. Lucario noted they were only responding to the commotion he and Zorua had stirred up; though he thought sending twenty-two marines and an attack helicopter was bit overkill. Lucario realized that the lead pilot also knew something about the Orion Project. Now it was definitely worth looking into. He would ask one of the Belkan soldiers about it, after he taught them a lesson they won't soon forget. Lucario once again took to the trees and was soon high up in the branches closing in on his prey.

"Varyag lead to Varyag actual, we haven't found anything as to the causes of the explosions. We only found some traces of the explosions: scorched grass, bark missing off tress, and several trees that have collapsed, returning to base now."

"Very well, better force march it back; we have reports of an Osean patrol coming this way. See you when you get back, Varyag actual out."

"Varyag squad, we are returning to our base in Angola, let's put the pedal to the metal, Osean patrol might be rolling in soon."

Lucario was now directly above the unsuspecting Belkan soldiers. Lucario once again began drawing up massive stores of aura into his body. Upon gathering a surplus of energy, he opened up a telepathic link to the off guard soldiers.

_"You are not going anywhere."_ Lucario said in a stern voice to the soldiers who snapped their weapons up and were now scanning the forest around them. _"First, you attack a school of innocent children. I don't take too kindly to that. I intend to take every one of you down and get the answers I need."_

"You must not know who you're dealing with here bud. Do you know who we are?" Varyag lead called out.

"_I am fully aware of who you are and how you think you are invincible, but truth be told; I'm about to take all of you down without breaking a sweat. So why don't you tell me what I want to know and I promise only to knock you'll out."_

"Boy, you must be brain damaged. We are the elite of the elite. The pride of the Belkan army and…"

"_You have no honor, no morals, and soon, no freedom."_ Lucario interrupted, _"So, tell me about the Orion Project. That is why you are here isn't it? To investigate what your little project brought you and if it can be used to your advantage, that might have worked, but I can't be manipulated like you pawns. Just spare me the time of prying your minds further and tell me what I want to know."_ Lucario then started to manipulate the man's mind, installing uncertainty and fear in it.

Varyag leader stopped after hearing this. How could anyone know their orders or about the Orion Projects connection to what they were searching for, those orders had been local, no radio traffic at all. This must be what they were looking for.

"Varyag squad, find our target and bring it down."

"_Do you really thing that is going to work. You have to be even stupider than the hunters I faced earlier."_ Lucario charged up a massive aura sphere and shot it down into the middle of the squad of soldiers. The explosion was massive and knocked out every one of the soldiers as they either hit a tree or the ground with extreme force.

"Viking leader to Vikings 2 and 3, did you see that?"

"This is Viking 3, we saw that massive explosion. Deploying Eagle squad in this small clearing; man, even it has been blasted to pieces."

The UH-60 came to a hover over the spot Lucario and Zorua used for their duel and several ropes fell from the side as marines began to spill out of the aircraft. Once they reached the ground, they got in formation and advanced toward the plume of smoke.

Lucario got down from his tree; he knew that the other soldiers would be here soon and that he still needed more information. He bent over Varyag leader's unconscious body and entered his mind once again. He gathered all he knew about the Orion Project, which wasn't much. However, he did find the name of someone who would know more.

"Freeze and stay where you are!"

Lucario came back to reality and found himself surrounded by the marine unit, with helicopters hovering overhead. He quickly drew in more aura and created a protective field around him, but he did not run. Lucario wanted to find out more about this Orion Project. He entered the mind of the pilot once again.

"This is Eagle leader to Viking leader; we have found both a Belkan spec ops unit and the white animal. It would appear that the explosion knocked out the Belkan unit, they are all out cold. Please advise over."

"Roger, take the Belkan unit and the animal into custody and bring them back to the field."

"_Not happening. I entrust that these despots will be taken care of. Now, I will be on my way."_ Lucario transmitted his message then jumped back up into the trees before disappearing completely.

The force of marines stood in shock. First, the animal had talked to them somehow. Then by how it disappears with inhuman speed.

"This is Eagle leader. The white animal escaped, that thing has got to be the fastest thing I have ever seen. We will bring the prisoners to the field for extraction." The platoon of marines picked up the unconscious soldiers and carried them back to the helicopter that had landed in the field and load them into it. The marines started to climb back aboard when their radio cackled to life.

"Eagle leader, take four men and proceed to town and await further orders."

"Roger that, Eagles 2, 3, 4, and 5, on me."

With that the remaining marines boarded the Black Hawk and it took off and got in formation with the other helicopters as they headed back to base, leaving the squad of marines behind. The marines waited for the rotor wash to die down before they set off for town.

* * *

Well there was chapter 5, longest thing I have ever written. I hope you enjoyed and hope to get chapter 6 done soon. Not sure how much I will get done, have spring break coming up, so either I will get a ton or none done.


	6. Odyssey

Well, here's to getting an early start on chapter 6. As of now, most the parties of the story have been introduced. Now that the military is involved, I can really start cracking at this story. Well, here is chapter 6, as always please review (don't know why I bother saying this anymore) and please PM if you see any big errors.

**UPDATED: 4-16-13**

* * *

Act I: Revelation

Chapter 6: Odyssey

* * *

"Viking lead to control tower, request clearance to land, we have multiple HVTs on board Viking 3; make sure to roll out the welcome mat for them."

"Roger that Viking lead, you are cleared for landing on pads four through six. We will have the MPs waiting for you.

The three helicopters made their approaches to the helipads and gently set down and powered off the main turbines. The side doors then swung open as the marines got out, some of them escorting the Belkan soldiers to the waiting security force. Before long, all the marines had gathered in mission room and were waiting for their debriefing to begin. A door toward the front of the room opened and all the marines rose and saluted the person who entered the room, General Ryan.

"At ease, take your seats men. The Belkans you captured are the elite Varyag squad. I want to know every detail of what happened on your mission, from when you left to when you got back." General Ryan started as he took his place at the head of the room.

General Ryan was a decorated war hero from the last war. He was currently in charge of the Capital District Marine Command. He is greatly respected by all the troops under his command and much of Osea knows of his reputation for getting thing down swiftly and effectively. He has short, brown hair and matching brown eyes. He towers above most people with his extreme height, reinforcing his authority.

"Sir," Eagle 6, in the absence of Eagle lead and the others, stood and began his chronicle of the patrol, "Our mission started off as any other patrol mission. We left base and headed for the target area and were briefed in flight of the specific details of our patrol. The details were that there were large explosions in the forest south of Angola town. This town was the recent sight of a terrorist attack on a school. Since the attack, there had been multiple sighting of a mysterious white animal.

"Once we reached the patrol area, there was a very large explosion less than one-thousand yards from the helicopter. Viking 3 dropped off our squad in a nearby clearing which appeared to have been the sight of the previous explosions. The area had scorch marks and broken trees all around it. Once we were all on the ground, we proceeded to the sight of the explosion. There we found four unconscious Belkan soldiers with the white animal leaning over one of the soldiers. The animal had a faint purple fire surrounding its body as well as four small, black appendages rising horizontally behind its head. When Eagle lead confronted the animal, the purple fire dissipated and the appendages fell down. It turned around and looked at us and closed its eyes; once again it was engulfed in the faint purple fire and the black sacks rose again. By this point Eagle lead was informing Viking lead of our progress. When we moved to apprehend the animal and the soldiers, when we a heard a voice. I can only assume that the animal that somehow communicated with us. Before we could react, the animal leapt into the air and ran off with amazing speed into the forest. We gathered the soldiers and went back to the helicopters before Eagles lead left with four others. We came back here while the others had orders to go to Angola. That concludes my overview of the mission."

"Very interesting, do you think that this animal knocked out the Belkans?" Ryan inquired.

"I would have to assume that it did. It may have even been the source of the explosions we were investigating, not the Belkans."

General Ryan was about to continue when a soldier burst into the room.

"General Ryan, you need to see this." The soldier ran over to where the general was standing and input several commands into the console in the podium. The lights in the room dimmed as the overhead projector turned on and began showing footage from a news station. The eight men in the room watched in awe of what appeared to be the white animal from earlier and another small black and red animal dueling in the small field. The footage showed the animals conjuring powerful attacks from thin air and unleashing them at each other. The news man that was talking in the background was noting the powerful shockwave each explosion gave off. He then moved on to discussing if the animals were a threat to the nearby town or the capital. The picture on screen then switched over to footage of the animal engaging a group of hunters, who were quickly neutralized by the animal.

"After the hunters were disarmed, the leader of the group engaged in conversation with the animal, which identified itself as Lucario. It appears to communicate through telepathy and claims to be from a different dimension." After hearing the reporter's last comment, a thought entered General Ryan's head. The news report continued, but Ryan darted out of the room, leaving the startled marines to themselves.

* * *

"Dr. Hamilton, we have recaptured all but two Pokémon, but we know where they are, well kind of. After we got some of the TVs working, we picked up a news report showing Lucario and Zorua fighting in a small field south of a town called Angola. We are working on determining the location of this town now." Chief Engineer Roberts reported.

"This is good news; do we have any data on where we are yet?" Hamilton inquired.

"To my best guesses, we are in another dimension. The towns and regions are not of our world. We do not know how we got here, but are looking into it at this time."

"Very well, continue with your work."

* * *

"General Marshal, we have lost all contact with Varyag squad, they were investigating explosions outside of Angola town when we lost contact. It would appear that they were somehow captured by an Osean patrol. We are trying to verify this with one of our moles in the government. Also, there has been clear confirmation and video evidence of mysterious animals in the area surrounding the town." LT Hopper concluded his statues report of the day. It unnerved him that Varyag squad might have been captured. He wondered if this incident would prove to be troublesome for the attack that was to occur within the week.

"Very well, do we have any details as to how Varyag squad was captured?"

"Not at this time, sir. Do you want to deploy the stealth recon drones to search the area for the complex?"

"Yes, they should be able to avoid the Osean radar and find the complex if it is in the surrounding area."

Thirty minutes later, four small but sophisticated aircraft took off from the base and proceeded to their programed destinations. Upon arrival, the drones would take up search patterns of vast areas around Angola, searching for any signs of the complex.

* * *

Lucario had no problems finding the cabin, even though Zorua had cloaked the entire structure. He found the door using his aura vision and swiftly entered the building, closing the door rapidly behind him. His sudden entrance startled Zorua as she had jumped back when he swung the door open.

"How did you know where the door was?" Zorua asked with a confused voice. "Did I not do a good job with my illusion?"

"Oh no, the illusion is perfect." Lucario responded; impressed by the masterfully done illusion that cloaked the small cabin. "There just isn't anything that can hide from my aura vision."

"Ah, so what happened?"

"Well, for starters, I think I may have found a lead as to how we got here."

"Are you serious? That's great. What did you find?"

"The Orion Project, both the Belkans and the Oseans knew something about it. However, there were some contradictions. The Oseans believed that the Orion Project was terminated, while the Belkans know that it still operates. The Belkans know something the Oseans don't. I think that they are the reason we are here. However, all I got was the name of this project. I know nothing about what it is or where it is, but I know how to find out."

"Umm, who are the Belkans and Oseans? I have never heard of them before; are they like Team Galactic and all those other organizations back in our dimension?"

"No, well kind of, they are countries, equivalent to the regions back home. The Oseans are good; they fight for freedom and justice. The Belkans however, they are like Team Galactic; they wish to conquer this world and subjugate its inhabitants."

"I think I understand. So, how are you planning on finding out more about this Orion Project?"

"There is a man who authorized it; he should know the information we seek. Getting to him might be difficult though." Lucario sighed as he thought of a way to gain access to the man he sought.

"Hey Lucario, can I drop the illusion now? It is tiring to hold up this large of an illusion this long."

"Huh, oh yah, go ahead." Lucario replied when he remembered something Zorua had told him last night. "Zorua, you can cast illusions around other people right, even if they are moving?"

"Of course," Zorua replied with a wide smile of pride across her face, "I can create some of the most powerful illusions in the world. My father noticed this and taught me how to surpass even his illusions. Normally, this isn't possible till I evolve, but I guess I am special. I am not hindered by any of the normal problems my kind has."

"Good, we are going to need an illusion to get close to this man."

"Who is this guy anyway?"

"President Jackson, the leader of Osea."

"Okay, but why do we need illusions for you to get close to him? Can't you just use your extreme agility to get near him?"

"Normally yes, but Jackson is in the city of Oured, a ways north from here. The city is very large and there is no way I could get close enough without being seen. So once we reach the city outskirts, you will have to cast an illusion around us so we can blend in with the populace of the city. Now come on, we need to leave and get as much distance between us and this town."

The two Pokémon set out into the twilight; Lucario had the hiking backpack while Zorua ran behind him. Lucario ran with his eyes closed, relying on his aura vision to navigate toward the city, taking the path along the river he had discovered earlier. The river bank was devoid of anyone who could have seen them as Lucario and Zorua traveled toward the city.

* * *

Eagle squad entered Angola and went to the nearby hotel for the night; they had not brought their usual equipment for the patrol. Eagle lead approached the desk clerk, who was startled by the appearance of soldiers in the town.

"Hi, we need two rooms for the night."

"Certainly, what name do you want to put the rooms under?" The desk clerk responded, not exactly sure as to if he should be happy or worried that fully armed marines were in the town.

"Johnson."

"Very well, your rooms are on the third floor, 305 and 310. May I ask if everything is okay?"

"Yah, everything is fine; we were just investigating the explosions in the forest to the south."

"Ah, I see. Those two animals could prove to be quite a problem."

"Huh, what do you mean?" Captain Johnson asked surprised at the mention of a second animal. "And where did you learn of this second animal?"

"It was on the news; I guess you guys didn't see it though, should still be playing on the TV in the lounge if you want to check it out."

"Thanks for the information." Johnson replied as he walked back to his squad. "Come on, apparently we missed some big news broadcast. The clerk says it is still playing on the TV; we need to check this out."

The five marines walked over to the lounge and attracted quite a few stares from the people in the room. Some even left the room as the marines entered. Sure enough, the TV was still showing the battle between the two animals. The marines were shocked by what they saw on screen, but Johnson soon turned and left with the rest of Eagle squad following as they went up to their rooms. Eagle lead and 2 took one room while Eagles 3, 4, and 5 took the other room.

"Lieutenant, set up the radio. We need to check in with base."

"Already on it," Lieutenant Snow responded, "should have it set up in a few minutes." True to his word, Snow had the radio set up and operating on a secure channel in less than three minutes.

"This is Eagle lead calling Capital District Marine Command, do you read me?"

"This is Eagle actual, we read you."

"We have arrived at Angola, currently checked into a local hotel for the night. What are our orders?"

"Eagle lead," a new voice came over the radio, "This is General Ryan. Have you seen the news broadcast?"

"We saw a short portion of it, sir." Johnson said with his crispest voice, surprised to be talking to the general.

"Well, apparently some hunters from the town you're in had an encounter with the white animal, which identified itself as Lucario. I want to go find these hunters and gather any information you can from them then report back."

"Roger that sir."

Johnson and Snow turned and left the room and went over to the next door.

"Chief, I need you and the others to hold down the fort. The two of us have a small errand to run; watch over the other room and the radio."

"Aye sir," responded a voice from the other side, "When will you be back?"

"Two hours at the most."

With that the two senior officers left and went down to the main lobby. Snow walked over next to the door as Johnson walked back to the front desk.

"Is something wrong with your rooms?" The clerk asked the approaching captain.

"No, I just need to know where I can find those hunters that fought with the white animal."

"They are at Joey Rays bar across the street. They have been telling their story over and over again. They are probably still telling it now. I am sure they would love to tell you about it."

"Thanks again."

Johnson left and walked out the door with Snow trailing behind him; to two marines, still carrying their M4 assault rifles, walked across the street the packed bar. They entered the bar and saw a large group of people gathered in a corner of the bar. Most of the patrons in the bar stared at the two marines as they approached the group of hunters; those in front of them parted and made a path for them. The pair of soldiers stopped in front of the table where the hunters were sitting.

"You the hunters who fought that white animal?" Johnson asked with his usual military tone.

"Lucario? Yah, we fought him. What do you want to know?" Mike responded

"Everything, A to Z with no detail left out."

"If you say so, you might want to take a seat, it's a long story."

Two hunters got up and the marines took their seats. Mike began to tell the two the story starting to when they first found him in the forest to when Lucario had disarmed his entire group, including his agility and powers.

"Lucario said he was from a different dimension and to stop looking for him or he would do more than break our guns." Mike concluded his story. "So, what are you guys going to do about this? He said that he did not want to hurt anyone, but I don't trust anything that animal says."

"We are looking into it."

Johnson and Snow got up and left saying he had to report back to his superiors and thanked the hunters. The two of them walked back up to the third floor and checked in with the chief. They walked into their room and went to the radio.

"This is Eagle lead calling Eagle actual."

"Eagle lead this is Ryan, what did you find?"

"The animal calls itself Lucario and is extremely powerful and has superb agility. He can unleash sudden and powerful attacks as well as create a protective field of some sort. The hunters' bullets bounced off what Lucario said was a shield that had something to do with aura. Lucario says that aura is the life force of all living things and he is capable of manipulating it to his will. He also claims to be from a different dimension. Sir, do you think this as anything to do the Orion Project?"

"I also had the same thought; we saw the news report and already knew some of the stuff you reported, but also I also learned some new information, good job captain."

"What do you want us to do now, sir?"

"Track him, make sure that he isn't a threat and gather information on the other animal if you see an opportunity. I am having your equipment sent over now, should be there by midnight."

"Roger that sir, Eagle lead out." Johnson powered down the radio and turned to Snow. "Go tell the others we leave early tomorrow, our orders and to find and observe the white animal, identified as Lucario."

Snow nodded and left the room to relay the orders.

* * *

"This will do for tonight Zorua." Lucario said and came to a stop. "We will camp here, plenty of trees around to keep us hidden. You should get some sleep; you look exhausted."

"Okay, what about you?" Zorua replied, "Are you going to sleep or what?"

"Yes, I just need to meditate first, make sure my senses are sharp so no one sneaks up on us."

Lucario sat down as Zorua lay down under a tree and fell asleep. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate. Focusing on the surrounding terrain, Lucario set up a trip wire with aura. If anyone came close to where he was, it would alert him immediately. He also planned the route they would take to the city tomorrow. Lucario estimated that they would arrive at the city outskirts about midday if they left in the morning. Lucario relaxed himself and drifted to sleep.

* * *

"General Marshal, one of the drones as found something, it is around fifty miles west of Angola. I am bringing up visual now, sir."

The large screen in the center of the command room was soon filled with the video from the drone. It showed a very large complex in the middle of a dense forest. Another small screen showed that path of the drone, which was a large orbit around the complex.

"This appears to be the target complex; we believe this because it is a match with earlier pictures and it is not on any maps."

"Good job, have the drone maintain its orbit. Hopper, I want you to lead a team to the complex and gather information. Don't make any hostile actions unless absolutely necessary."

"I understand, sir." Hopper turned and left the room. He went to the barracks located on the base to assemble his team. After choosing the three top squads currently on base, he and his expeditionary group gathered in the hanger to board their aircraft. The aircraft being used to transport the team were JT-1 Sentinels, one of the many aircraft they had gathered from other dimensions. The Sentinel had two jet engines, was VTOL capable, and had stealth technology that made it nearly invisible to all forms for radar. Each was large enough to carry forty combat troops and could be modified to carry weapons. Hopper's force was taking one transport variant and two attack variants for their mission, just in case things turned for the worse. The attack variants were armed with sonic and optical weaponry. The team boarded their transport and took off in formation with the other to aircraft. The formation of advanced jets was soon advancing toward its destination at close to Mach 1.5. At this speed it would only take them around fifteen minutes for them to arrive at their destination.

"Hopper, we are going to arrive in three minutes." The pilot commented through the radio. "How do you want us to approach?"

"Have the other two Sentinels cover us while we land, weapons set to stun for now. We can't gather information from dead people. Only fire if fired upon, let's see if we can't make allies of our new arrivals."

The formation began to slow down as it approached the laboratory. The transport craft continued straight while the other two craft broke off to coving positions flanking each side of the lead jet. Upon arriving at the base, all three Sentinels switched on their flood lights. The transport continued its descent while the coving jets maintained a tight orbit around complex, ready to respond to any hostile act.

* * *

"Dr. Hamilton, we have a problem. Someone has found us; we are not sure if they are hostile or not. What do you want us to do?" Chief Roberts said as he burst into Hamilton's office.

"Call up all the guards and their Pokémon." Hamilton ordered; he had been wondering what the racket outside his office had been. "No hostile acts, only fire if fired upon first. Let us go see who has discovered our lab and what they intend to do."

* * *

Well, here is chapter 6. Got it out before spring break, so it might be the last one for a while, not sure how much time I will have for writing. Also, I didn't think it would come to this, but it has, I am officially begging for feedback; I have very little to no clue on how I am doing or what anyone thinks about the story so far. Now that that is out of the way, I hope everyone has a good spring break (if that applies to you).


	7. Axis of Evil

Well I am currently sitting in the back of my dad's car on our way back from Colorado to good old Texas, 13 hour long trip. So far I have slept for 2 hours and watched Live Free or Die Hard. Still have about 9 hours to go and thought I would kill some time writing. So here is chapter 7, hope you all enjoy.

**UPDATED: 4-17-13**

Act I: Revelation

Chapter 7: Axis of Evil

* * *

Dr. Hamilton and Chief Roberts walked out of the building and saw the guards rushing to their positions around the landed aircraft. They also noticed the two aircraft that continued to circle above the base. Hamilton continued toward the aircraft that had landed with Roberts trailing slightly to his side. He came up to one of the guards and got his attention; the guard quickly saluted.

"What is the hell is going on here?" He yelled at the guard, trying to drown out the sound of the jet engines.

"We are not entirely sure, sir. These jets came out of nowhere; one landed and the other two appear to be covering it. None of the craft have done anything hostile. What are your orders, sir?"

"Get me a microphone for the PA system; let's see if we can communicate with these guys."

"Yes sir." The guard replied, snapping a quick salute before running off. He returned a short while after with a microphone and handed it to Hamilton. Hamilton took it and paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts about how to go about this situation.

"Attention unidentified aircraft, power down your engines and state your intentions." Hamilton spoke into the PA system. He waited a bit and repeated his demands.

* * *

"Should we do as they ask, sir?" The pilot asked LT Hopper. Hopper was looking out the cockpit window looking at the guards that had surrounded the Sentinel; he was amazed that none of them appeared to have any weapons.

"Power down the engines and prepare to open the rear hatch." Hopper replied as he walked to the rear of the transport. He gathered the senior officers from each of the three squads and proceeded toward the lowering ramp at the rear of the craft.

* * *

Hamilton was pleased when the roar of the craft's jet engines started quieting down till it was a nothing but a low hum. He also noticed that a ramp at the back of the jet was lowering and started walking around the perimeter the guards had set up toward to rear of the jet. By now the courtyard was well illuminated by floodlights, from both the air and the ground. Hamilton could easily make out the seven men exiting the aircraft. He, Roberts, and a few of the guards started walking out to meet them. The two groups met and stood a few feet apart and observed each other. After a short amount of time, Hopper broke the silence.

"Greeting gentlemen, I am Lieutenant Hopper of the Belkan Army. I apologize for our unannounced arrival."

"I am Dr. Hamilton, and I am in charge of this laboratory. Why have you come here?" Hamilton replied in a commanding tone.

"Getting right to the point I see." Hopper stated, "We came here to gather information and ask a few questions then we will be on our way.

"Very well, we also have a few questions for you. Why don't we continue our conversation inside?" Hamilton replied, gesturing toward the building in front of him.

"That sounds great." Hopper returned then gave a sharp whistle, signaling the pilot to power down completely and tell the others to land. He and the other senior officers then continued to follow Hamilton into a nearby building. Hamilton led the group into a large conference room with a long table running down the center. Each party sat down on opposite sides of the table. On one side was Hamilton, Roberts, the head of security, and a few of the other scientists, and on the other side was Hopper and the six officers he brought with him.

"So, let us begin our talks." Hamilton started, "You said you were here to gather some information, what kind of information do you want?"

"For starters, I would like to know what you do here at this complex." Hopper replied.

"Normally I would not disclose that information, however, I find myself in a situation where I need answers too. So I will tell you what you want to know in return for you answering my questions. Do we have a deal?"

"That sounds reasonable."

"Very well, this laboratory specializes in the enhancement of Pokémon though hybridization."

After Hamilton said this, Hopper and the other officers had blank looks on their faces, each covered I confusion. One of the officers eventually asked the question that was on all of their minds.

"What is a Pokémon?"

Now it was Hamilton's side of the table to be confused. Each looking at another with looks of disbelief on their face. Hamilton realized that they must be in a dimension without Pokémon. He regained the composure of his face.

"Well, that is a relatively simple question." Hamilton said as he reached for the Pokéball in his pocket and pulled it out. "Don't be alarmed by what is about to happen." Hamilton then threw the Pokéball into the air and there was a flash of white light. The seven Belkan soldiers covered their eyes, blinded by the unusual light. When they took their arms down, each jumped out of their chair and took several steps back from the orange dragon that appeared in front of them.

Hamilton chuckled, "Everyone reacts the same way when they first see a Charizard. I imagine since none of you have ever seen a Pokémon that you were startled even more than most. Don't worry; he won't attack unless I order him to. This is just one of hundreds of different types of Pokémon; each is special in its own way. Charizard is a fire type and therefore specializes in fire based attacks." Hamilton then recalled the orange dragon into its Pokéball, shocking the Belkans once again.

"That is very impressive." Hopper starts, still shocked by what had just happened in front of him, he and the others finally retake their seats. "These Pokémon, what are they used for?"

"They serve many different purposes, but the primary purpose is battling. As I said, each can learn a variety of attacks."

The two groups continue to talk about Pokémon and the laboratory for the most part of the early morning, till the sun starts to rise. By this point coffee and several other breakfast items had been brought into the room. The other soldiers and base staff were talking in the courtyard; each showing off their Pokémon or weapons, trying to impress each other. In the conference room, tensions had all but melted away as each side grew more comfortable with the other.

"I believe that I have answered quite a few of your questions; I hope you don't mind if you answer some of ours now." Hamilton said in a rather friendly tone.

"Not at all, you have provided us with all the information we were looking for, I would be happy to answer any of your questions." Hopper replied.

"First, where are we? To our understanding we are in a different dimension."

"We are in the country of Osea, my countries enemy. Although we lost the war some years ago, we never stopped fighting. There is a large group of us operating out of old Osean base." Hamilton noticed that Hopper was getting slightly less comfortable about this topic.

"I think it is time for both of us to come clean on our intentions." Hamilton said in a very serious tone. "This lab doesn't do experiments that would benefit the people of our world. We strengthen Pokémon so that we may conquer our world." Hamilton noticed that Hopper was relieved upon hearing this. "This is good news to you isn't it?"

"I can't say that we have any better intentions than you, Hamilton." Hopper said with a slight laugh. "Belka lost the war because we tried to conquer our world. Ironically, we are now more capable of doing this now then we were then. I say this because of base we operate out of has allowed us to gather advanced weapons, like the jets we came in."

"I see." Hamilton said, becoming aware of something. "I must ask you another question. Do you know how we arrived in your dimension?"

Hopper knew the question was coming; he had been debating whether or not to answer it truthfully or not. Each side had its pros and cons, after careful consideration, he decided it would be better to tell the truth. He let out a heavy sigh before giving his answer.

"Yes, I do. However I cannot say that you will be pleased with my answer." Hopper paused and looked at Hamilton and notices that his face hasn't changed. "Truthfully, we brought you here. The base we occupied was an advanced Osean research lab. In it were several unfinished devises that would allow the user to bring objects from other dimensions, such as the jets outside, or in your case, this entire facility. We didn't know that we could bring living things through so we have never had anything like this happen before."

"Is there any way back?"

"Not that we know of."

* * *

Lucario jolted awake when he felt someone trip his invisible wire. He concentrated his aura to see who was getting close. He was shocked to see that it was the Osean soldiers from the previous day.

"Zorua, ZOURA! Wake up!" Lucario yelled, shaking Zorua. She slowing woke up but quickly came to as Lucario shook her.

"Okay, okay, I'm awake, what's the big rush?" Zorua said rather angrily.

"We have to go; the Osean soldiers from yesterday somehow tracked us here. We need to be gone before they get here. We need to reach the city today so we can hide in it. There is no way the soldier can track us once we are in the streets."

"Alright, let's go."

With that, the two Pokémon took off in a full sprint, Lucario using his aura vision to guide them to their destination. About fifteen minutes later Viking squad arrived at the place they had been camping. They easily noticed the signs that Lucario and Zorua had been sleeping there and left recently, from the two indents in the ground to the fresh tracks going away from the spot.

"Looks like they left recently, no more than half an hour ago at the most, which means they can't be far off now." Snow said.

"You're right, and their tracks are heading toward Oured. I wonder if they even know where they are going." Johnson replied, "By the look of things, they knew we were coming. Get the radio up; we need to report in."

Snow set the radio up and had a secure channel to HQ in record time.

"Eagle lead to Eagle actual, come in over."

"Eagle lead, this is Ryan, call sign Wolf. You will report directly to me until further notice, understood?"

"Roger that Wolf."

"What do you have to report?"

"We set out early his morning, around 0500 hours to see if we could track Lucario and the other animal. We found an old cabin that appeared to be their shelter for the past few days. We found nothing of importance inside the cabin, but we did find two sets of footprints outside and have been following them sense. We just came across their campsite, but they knew we were coming and left not too long before we got here. They appear to be heading toward Oured."

"Did you say they are heading toward Oured?" Ryan responded, not believing what he just heard.

"Affirmative sir, we are going to continue our pursuit. Do our orders not to engage still stand?" There was a brief pause over the radio.

"Yes, but if you suspect that Lucario becomes a threat, I want to engage then and only then."

"Affirmative sir, Eagle lead out." Johnson then turned to the other soldiers, "Alright, let's move out. We need intercept Lucario before he reaches the capital."

General Ryan sat back in his chair at let out a large sigh. He didn't need this, not now. He knew that this would have to wait though; he was needed at the Chief of Staff meeting to report the situation to President Jackson. He was worried that Lucario would make it to the city while he was in the meeting. Ryan knew that even his best soldiers couldn't cover that large of a distance in such a short period of time, however, he knew that Lucario was apparently very fast and agile.

* * *

Several hours passed as Lucario sprinted toward the outskirts of Oured, using aura to keep his stamina up, however, Zorua couldn't keep up so he had ended up carrying her as well as the backpack. Zorua had drifted back to sleep in Lucario's arms, he couldn't help but smile at the fact that we was doing all the work while she slept. However, Lucario knew that she would need her strength for her illusions when they got to the city. He started to slow down as he realized the forest was starting to thin out. After a few minutes he could see the skyscrapers of downtown Oured.

"Zorua, wake up, again." Lucario said, trying not to startle her. Once again Zorua was slow to wake up but quick to become alert.

"What happened?" Zorua asked Lucario realizing that he was carrying her again and jumped out of his arms.

"You fell asleep, again." He said shaking his head. "Now come on, I need you to whip up some illusions for us; I don't want to get any closer without them."

"We are at the city already? Dang you're fast." Zorua said astonished at his speed and endurance. "All right, stand still for a sec while I create an illusion for you." Zorua walked around Lucario scanning his physical details. After about a minute she stopped and started to glow in crimson aura again. There was a bright flash and Lucario looked down at himself. He saw that he was wearing khaki pants and a nice, dark purple shirt.

"Very nice job Zorua," Lucario said, looking himself over and moving around making sure the illusion suck to him. He then turned to look at Zorua; her illusion was of about a ten year old girl with black hair, blue eyes, and wearing small red dress.

"So you don't mind the white hair?" She asked with a small laugh.

"What!" Lucario almost screamed, and then pulled out a few strands of hair. Sure enough, they were white as snow. "Why is my hair white? I am not that old."

"Because your fur is white, makes it easier to maintain the illusion. Live with it." Zorua replied with a smirk across her face.

"Fine, let's get this over with. Stay close to me; I don't want anyone kidnapping you. Not that you couldn't fight them off, I just don't want to use any powers if we don't have to."

"Fair enough."

With that, the duo of Pokémon set off out of the woods and into the outskirts of the city. Lucario was attracting the attention of almost everyone they passed. He figured it was just the white hair that was drawing attention. It didn't take them long to find the main street that led down to the capital buildings. Lucario looked at his reflection in the window of a shop. He looked to be around thirty; he also noticed the white hair didn't look half bad; it was very sleek, then he saw something else, his eyes were still a bright violet color. Sighing at the fact that Zorua had not changed his eyes to something more normal, Lucario could only think about how Zorua would continue to trick him. They continued down the street for a few minutes when Lucario sensed trouble. Sure enough, he looked down the next alley and saw a couple being robbed by a group of five men.

"_Zorua, I am going to go help that couple. Make sure no one sees what is really happening down this alley."_ Lucario sent the telepathic message and looked down at Zorua who gave him a quick nod.

Lucario then walked down the alley and gave sharp whistle, getting the attention of everyone. He decided not to talk, would risk too much. The biggest of the five robbers came over and stopped a few feet in front of Lucario, thinking that he was just some weak passerby.

"What, you want to be a hero?" He asked; Lucario only nodded in reply. "Oh, a silent type let me beat some sound out of you then."

He brought up his arm and went to punch Lucario straight in the gut. However, Lucario stopped his hand with his paw with ease; quickly twisting it around and bringing the man to his knees. The thug struggled to get back up, but Lucario swiftly kicked him in the side of the head, knocking him out. By this point the rest of the robbers were rushing at Lucario with various items in their hands. Lucario simply side stepped one of the brutes charge and tripped him with his leg, sending him flying into a wall, knocking him out. The next one attempted to bring a crowbar down one Lucario's head, but Lucario simply blocked the attack with his arm. He barely felt a thing do to the steel in his arm, and swiftly countered the guy by punching him hard in the stomach. This one doubled over in pain and didn't get back up.

"Three down, two to go." Lucario thought to himself. "This is too easy; humans are far too weak to do any fighting compared to Pokémon."

The last two thugs were now worried and it showed on their faces. However, they both, foolishly, charged at Lucario. After a few swift punches and kicks, the last two are doubled over on the ground. Lucario looked over to the couple that had been in the corner, they were surprised that anyone had helped them; they got up and started walking over to Lucario. Lucario gave a quick bow, putting his fist into the palm of his other paw. After finishing his bow, he turned and ran out of the alley.

Lucario got Zorua's attention as he rounded the corner and continued a fast walk down the street, using his aura vision to make sure the couple he saved wasn't following him. After around forty-five more minutes of walking, Lucario and Zorua reached the capital building. It was a very elegant looking building, made with a special kind of grey marble with pillars along the front and a large dome on top. Lucario turned to Zorua and opened a link with her.

"_Alright, this is the building. I can sense Jackson down in a room with several other people. I have a feeling they won't let us just walk in there. We'll get as close as we can with these disguises then switch them guards. Can you do that?"_

"_Shouldn't be a problem, I just need to know what the uniforms look like."_

Soon upon entering the building, they encountered a major problem, metal detectors.

"_Scrap that plan, Zorua. There is no way I can make it through undetected, not with all the metal in my body. New plan, as soon as I walk through and the alarm goes off, drop the illusions. I can guide us through the building and get us to where Jackson is. Stick to my tail and we should be fine. Got it?"_

"_Got it."_ Zorua replied through the link.

Sure enough, the second Lucario entered the metal detector; the alarms on it went off. On cue Zorua dropped the illusions and revealed Lucario and Zorua in their true forms. This of course causes panic among the people behind them and the guards in front of them. Both Lucario and Zorua started their sprint through the building, Lucario leading with his eyes closed and aura receptors raised. They made it down the first hallway before the alarms went off.

**30 minutes earlier**

"General Ryan thanks for joining us." President Jackson said as Ryan entered to room, a few minutes late.

"Sorry for being late, I was on the radio with the squad tracking Lucario, which is the topic of today's meeting." Ryan replied taking his position at the head of the room. He took out USB drive, inserted it into the podium mounted computer, and entered a few commands. The lights in the room dimmed and the project turned on, showing a clear picture of Lucario.

"This is Lucario," he started, "From what we have gathered; he is an animal from another dimension. He is very agile and extremely powerful."

Ryan then moved to the next slide which showed the clip of Lucario disabling then hunters.

"As you can see, he is able to discharge some form of energy from his hands, this appears to be highly destructive. Next, you can see that can form a bone-like staff and can use it in combat with an expert level of skill. Finally, for this clip, Lucario can fabricate an explosive orb that he throws with extreme accuracy."

Ryan then moves on to pictures from the school fire and shows the evidence that hypothesizes how it is believed that Lucario was the one who saved the people who were trapped inside. He explains that Lucario communicates through telepathy, which clarifies why there is no audio of Lucario talking. Ryan also mentions that Lucario claims to be honorable and doesn't want any trouble.

"Finally, as for Lucario's location at this moment, Viking squad has been tracking them for the past day. They believe that he is heading here, to Oured. We do not know what he intends to do when or if he gets here. I do not think that he has reached the city yet, due to the massive distance that would have had to been covered. That concludes my report on the current situation."

Right as Ryan finishes speaking, the alarms sound. It takes a moment for men in the room to realize what is going on. Ryan grabs a radio off the podium and gets ahold of security.

"This is General Ryan, what is going on up there?"

"We have a security breach, two I don't know whats. They looked like a guy and his daughter but when the guy stepped through the metal detector at it went off they morphed into the animals from the news. They ran off into the building before we could react. I think they are heading toward you."

As if on cue, the reinforced doors at the end of the room explode off their hinges. The guards in the room all grew their guns and pointed them at the smoke where the doors used to be. However, every gun was enveloped in a purple flame and yanked from the hands of the guards and flew over into the smoke. Lucario and Zorua then walk out of the smoke; Lucario was using Psychic to hold the guns in front of him. Lucario then uses his free hand to put the doors back where belong and locks them with aura, making it so only he can open them. He scanned the room and made eye contact with everyone in the room, performing quick mind scans to find out their names and importance in the room. When Lucario is done with this, he turns to President Jackson and opens a telepathic link to everyone in the room.

"_President Jackson, we need to talk."_

* * *

And done, with a cliffhanger, and I am home now. When I said I was going to kill some time, I didn't think I meant the rest of the drive, minus a few small breaks and one large break. Also, I went back through several chapters and found some errors and lack of details; so I am going to go back and fix all that up before I do the next chapter. Hope you all enjoyed.


	8. Coalition

Here's Chapter 8. Went through and fixed up some stuff, added a few details, nothing major, but no more stupid mistakes, I think. Anyway, here goes nothing.

**UPDATED: 4-18-13**

* * *

Act I: Revelation

Chapter 8: Coalition

The smoke had finally cleared out of the room. Most of the people inside the supposedly secure room had expressions of shock and fear; the two notable exceptions being President Jackson and General Ryan. Both of whom remained calm and fearless, or at least they didn't let their emotions show.

Lucario continued to walk forward, causing most of the people in the room to back up against the wall. He gave a small laugh and shook his head; earning him several stares from people in the room. General Ryan was the first to speak.

"You're Lucario aren't you?" General Ryan said in a stern tone, trying to take charge of the situation. "You move fast, truthfully, I wasn't expecting you to reach the city for another couple of hours."

"_I'll take that as a compliment. The soldiers you had tracking me are very skilled, it isn't easy to find me, let alone keep up with me." _Lucario replied with a commanding tone.

"So, why were you just laughing? I am no expert but I know laughing when I see it."

"_Your reactions were priceless, like you were afraid for your lives."_ Lucario return with a smirk across his face. At this point, one of the other generals in the room spoke up, still visibly shaken.

"And how do we know you're not going to kill us. We have seen what you have done."

"_If I wanted to kill you, you would already be dead. I don't kill without reason; if I did, those hunters would have been smashed into pulp." _Lucario retorted with a curt tone. _"As I said, I am here to talk. I need answers, and you are going to give them to me."_

"And if we refuse?" Ryan responded, still unfazed by the situation.

"_I can read minds, General Ryan; I will be getting the information I want one way or another. I just want to do this the easy way. So, let me ask my first question."_ Lucario started and pointed at President Jackson. _"And you will answer. What is the Orion Project?"_

At this everyone in the room, including Ryan and Jackson, went pale. Very few people knew the details about the Orion Project, although more knew that it existed. Jackson finally got a hold of himself and took a few steps forward.

"I am not even going to ask how you know about that or why you want to know about it, however, seeing as how I have no real choices; I will tell you." Jackson said with his voice shaking a bit. "The Orion Project was an advanced weapons development program. It revolved around finding and gathering advanced weapons from other dimensions. However, the war that brought about the project ended and it was discontinued before being completed. The base was abandoned and equipment rendered inoperable. That is the Orion Project."

"_Obviously, you didn't do a good job making sure someone would not reactivate that base. Right now it is occupied by Belkan soldiers, and they finished your machines and have been using them for the past several months. Now…"_ Lucario went to continue but was interrupted by one of the admirals on the other side of the room.

"That is impossible. There is no possible way that the Belkan army made it that far into Osea. You must be mistaken."

"_Oh am I? Last time I checked, I gathered that information straight from one of the Belkan army's best soldier's head, who is currently in your custody thanks to me. Now, where is the Orion Project located?"_ Lucario shouted back into their heads, rather angrily.

At this General Ryan walked over to the podium and hit several keys on the computer. A map of Osea was brought up on the screen at the front of the room. He then walked over and pointed to a location on the map.

"The base is located here, about 200 miles south from here. Truthfully, I suspected that it might be behind your appearance here, especially after you said you were from a different dimension."

Lucario looked at Ryan after he said this and searched his aura, looking to see if he could trust him. After finishing his search and finding no reason that Ryan would deceive him, Lucario broke his telepathic link with everyone but Ryan.

"_Listen to me very carefully Ryan. Right now, no one else can hear us; it is just you and me. Don't speak, you need only think."_ Lucario stated.

"_I get it. Let me guess, you want my help."_ Ryan replied in his mind.

"_I am impressed. You catch on quickly, general; I would appreciate your help if at all possible. Of all the men in this room, you are the most trustworthy."_

"_I see; what do you need?"_

"_That will come soon enough; I think I have over stayed my welcome. I will contact you soon."_

By now, the other chief of staff members were curious as to the silence and why Lucario and Ryan had their eyes locked. Some of the men near the door tried to shuffle toward the door but stopped when the guns Lucario was holding in front of him flew back to the respective guards. They couldn't quite grasp them yet as Lucario gave a bow along with another message.

"_Sorry for my intrusion, I will now be on my way. I suggest that you all don't look for me."_ He turned to Zorua and told her to make them disappear. She nodded and the duo disappeared from sight. They stealthy walked over to the corner of the room to watch how they would react, most of whom had retaken their seats, but were still visibly shaken.

"You said he wouldn't be in the city yet Ryan. What the hell was all that about then?" The Pacific Fleet Commander yelled. "And what was the long silence when you and Lucario just stared at each other. You owe us answers."

"So my estimates on his speed were off. Lucario is much faster than I anticipated. As for when Lucario was staring at me, he had cut off the telepathic link with everyone but me. Apparently I was the most trustworthy one in the room to him." At this point President Jackson cut in.

"What did he say to you?"

"Nothing really, I can't even remember half of what he said, it was mostly along the lines of stop trying to find him. This is obviously out of the question." This was met with nods and grunts of agreement from throughout the room. Lucario was smiling in the corner; he knew that Ryan was lying, which meant that he was going to help him after all.

"General, I want you to commit every available resource to this manhunt. I want this Lucario brought to justice." Jackson ordered, pounding his fist on the table.

"Yes sir, I understand."

With this, everyone in the room got up and headed to the door; Lucario quickly removed his aura lock so that they could leave. He once again opened a link with General Ryan.

"_Impressive tall tale, don't leave just yet if you don't mind."_ Lucario thought with a slightly mischievous tone. General Ryan stopped walking, realizing what was happening. He quickly excused himself and walked back into the room, closing the doors behind him. Lucario and Zorua soon appeared in the corner where they had been hiding. Lucario walked forward toward Ryan with an outstretched paw.

"_We have not formally met yet, I am Lucario. I am sure you knew that already though."_

"Ryan, but again, you already know this." He replied, shaking Lucario's paw.

"_So, why did you agree to help me? Most people don't assist those who break into top secret meetings."_

"Firstly, I know more about you than anyone else and wish to learn more. Secondly, your actions have shown that you truly do mean no harm. I must thank you for saving the people from the school. Also, who is your friend there?" Ryan concluded and looked over at Zorua.

"_Ah, yes, this is Zorua. She is the reason we were able to walk through the city undetected, as well as remain hidden in the corner over there. She can cast powerful illusions around herself and others near her._ Lucario gestured at Zorua who transformed into a perfect copy of Ryan, then gave a small laugh. _"She is as good as tricking people as I am at finding their true intentions. So, how exactly do you plan on helping me?"_

"I have had a group of marines tracking you for the past day. If you can find them, I can find out if they are willing to help you. Can you do that?"

"_Easily, there isn't a living thing that can hide from me. I could be at their location in less than two hours."_

"Good, I will contact them then. You can observe their reactions. If they are willing to go along with our plan, I will tell them to help you. At that point, it would probably be best if you revealed yourself to them."

"_That sounds reasonable. I better get going before anyone becomes suspicious of your absence. Hopefully I will hear from you soon general. Come on Zorua we need to leave; make us disappear."_ With that, the two Pokémon disappeared once again and Ryan left the room as if nothing had happened.

* * *

Negotiations had broken down, each side ready to lash out at the other. Tensions rose sharply after Hopper revealed that they had brought the complex to their dimension and did not know how to return its inhabitants to their own realm.

"There might be a way, but it would be pointless!" Hopper yelled at the others in the room. "Dimensions constantly move, even if there was a way, which I'm not saying there is, we would have to find your dimension again, which would be nearly impossible."

"You just don't know what to look for." Hamilton retorted, still rather angry about what has been revealed to him. "If we could find our dimension, could you return us there?"

"Theoretically, it might be possible. How could you even find your dimension?"

"It is in the center of two other dimensions, each of which is more of a distortion in space. We have located these dimensions before." Hamilton replied starting to calm down. He noticed that Hopper was also starting to calm down as well. The others had left the room before the debate reached its climax. "So, are we going to help each other or not. If we could open a reliable means of transportation between our dimensions, we could aid each other in conquering our respective worlds." Hopper had to think about this for a bit.

"So, you're not angry at us anymore?" Hopper asked, slightly confused.

"Not if you can get us back to our own dimension, which it sounds like there is a way."

"Fine, I will return to our base and pass your offer to our leader." With this the two men stood and shook hands across the table, each eyeing the other with trace amounts of suspicion. Hopper departed back out to where the rest of the men that came with him were waiting and they boarded their jets. Soon there was a deafening roar as all three jets took off and headed north-east.

* * *

Lucario and Zorua had no difficulties getting out of the city. They walked invisibly through the crowds on the streets, most of which were watching TV located in windows or inside different buildings. Lucario had once again made the news; then again, anyone who broke into the capitol building would make the news. After about an hour, they had made it back to the woods where Lucario had stashed his backpack. After grabbing it and having Zorua drop her illusion, Lucario and Zorua set off into the woods. They returned, for the most part, along the path they came. Lucario using his aura vision as they traveled to search for the marines Ryan had mentioned. After about thirty more minutes, he found them coming towards him. He turned to Zorua, who had been following behind him quietly.

"Alright, found them. We have a little of time before Ryan is supposed to contact them. We better find a good spot monitor them." Lucario said.

"Do you want me to create an illusion for us to hide in?" Zorua asked, tire heavy in her voice.

"No, you have done enough work today. You look exhausted; you should get some rest. I can carry you again if you want." Zorua looked up at Lucario after he said this. He was looking down at her with a caring look in his eyes and a small smile across his usually stern, indifferent face.

"That would be nice." Zorua replied, exhaustion in her voice, as she stepped onto the paw Lucario had stretched down so that he could pick her up. She once again found herself against Lucario's fur. She let all the tension in her body out and began to relax; casting illusions all day was very stressful on her body. Zorua looked up at Lucario and told him something that caught him off guard.

"You have changed a lot in the last few days. When I first met you, you couldn't care less about me or anything else for that matter." Zorua started, catching Lucario's attention." Now, you care for me as if I was your sister. What has changed in you?" Lucario had to think about this for a second. The question had caught him slightly off guard, yet he wasn't totally surprised by it either. He took a minute to think about this as he continued his walk toward the marines.

"I guess it is because I have not had anyone to care for or protect in many years." Lucario said in a very solemn tone. "After meeting you, I found something to live for again; I realized that there are things worth protecting. I had been held captive for so long, I forgot the meaning of my existence. You helped me find my purpose in life again, and for that, I must thank you." Lucario continued to carry Zorua, in silence, as what he said sunk in.

"How long were you held captive?" Zorua asked with not only curiosity in her voice but also trace amount of apprehension; Lucario gave a heavy, audible sigh.

"Five years, not only by the group that captured you, but also by several other groups. Each trying find out why I was as powerful as I was, trying to unlock that power for themselves. However, none of them could, so they would sell me off to some other organization and the process would start over again."

"Five years is a long time. How did manage to stay sane?"

"I trained in secret. Refining my aura abilities to an exact precision, I would expend my strength for no reason other than to build up my endurance." Lucario said, slightly proud of this, but his voice soon returned to its sad state for telling the rest of his story. "However, they kept all of us in solitary. That was something that all the organizations did, keep us isolated. This was when I developed my telepathy skills. It felt nice to finally be able to communicate with someone again; that as another thing that helped keep me sane. Knowing that I could outsmart those who held me against my will, I began to search for ways to escape, but that is a story for another time." Lucario paused and used his aura vision to search ahead of him again. "The soldier up ahead have stopped; we need to get gather the information we need. I hope Ryan knows what he is doing." Lucario gave a powerful leap and landed in the trees as he proceeded to where the marines had stopped.

"Eagle lead to Wolf, do you copy?" Johnson said over the radio, there was a short pause before he got a response.

"This is Wolf, what is your current location?" Ryan replied.

"We are currently twenty miles outside Oured; I believe that it is very possible that Lucario could already be inside the city."

"Very well, I want your opinion on something Eagle. What is your opinion on Lucario? Do you think he is a threat?" Johnson had to think about this question for a bit. Recalling his own encounter with Lucario as well as all the stories he had heard about him.

"Truthfully, sir, I don't think that Lucario wishes to hurt anyone. He saved a class from a burning school, disarmed the hunters that came after him, and didn't fight us after he captured the Belkan soldiers."

"Alright, that's what I wanted to hear. Now, I want you to find you what the others in your squad think about this. Report back to me after you have completed this task, Wolf out."

"Roger that." Johnson put the head set back on the receiver and turned to the rest of the squad, somewhat curious about what was going on. "Alright men, General Ryan wants us to debate about Lucario. Don't ask why because I haven't the slightest clue. Guess I will start, I don't think that he is a threat. The only action he has taken has been against those who have come after him. He saved a large group of people from a burning school and captured a Belkan squad. Those are the reasons for my support of Lucario. How about you Snow?"

"I agree. Chief, what about you, do you think Lucario is a threat?"

"Not right now, but I don't trust him. And the fact the he just happened to capture a Belkan squad just doesn't sit right with me." The last two marines were split between two existing sides. The group of soldiers continued to debate for another half hour before Johnson got back on the radio.

"This is Eagle calling Wolf."

"Eagle, what is the consensus of your squad?"

"Three of us fully trust Lucario while the other two do not believe he is a threat but do not trust him completely."

Before anyone could say another word, Lucario jumped down from the tree he was hiding in. He landed a few yards away from Johnson in a crouched position and slowly rose to his full height, which still wasn't too tall; by now all five marines had their rifles in hand and aimed at Lucario.

"_Tell Ryan I am here."_

The marines look at one another, not sure of what was happening. Johnson slowly reached for the headset and put it back on.

"Wolf, Lucario just came to us. What are your orders?"

"I want you to assist him in investigating the Orion Project." Ryan replied in a calm voice.

"Wait what! Is that why you wanted to know our opinions on Lucario?" Captain Johnson replied with shock in his voice.

"Yes, we believe that Belka has somehow infiltrated and reactivated the base the Orion Project is at. He says that they have been using the equipment there for a few months now. If they have, this is a greatest threat to national security that we face at the moment."

"I see." Johnson replied, seeing the graveness of the situation. "We will set off for the Orion Project tomorrow morning."

"Good, report back to me in the morning, Wolf out."

* * *

"General Marshal, the suspect complex was indeed our target." Hopper reported as he entered General Marshal's office.

"That is very good news." The general replied with a smile across his face. "What were you able to find out?"

"Quite a bit, the animals are called Pokémon and there are hundreds of different species. Each has its own powers. That's not all, Dr. Hamilton, the person in charge at the complex, offered an alliance." Now Marshal was ecstatic.

"This is just what we need, go and tell them I accept and see if you can bring a few back with you. They could be very helpful in tonight's attack."

"Yes sir." With that Hopper saluted and left the room.

* * *

Edit*- Due to a small mistake on my part, I accidentally placed the Orion Base in the middle Oured Bay. So I have changed it from west to south, which does not put the base in a body of water. My mistake, I only fixed it in the one spot I can remember in this chapter, there might my others, if so please tell me.

This chapter took me longer to type up than I expected, truthfully I was planning on publishing this on Tuesday, as you can guess that didn't happen. As always PLEASE review, the more feedback I get, the better my writing will be. Also, I will have the official cover art up soon, it is being done by hawktakesflight and what I have seen so far is great. I would also like to thank Caltrop for his submission, but I have decided to use hawk's. Anyway, I will try to get the next chapter out by next week, but I am not promising anything because I got midterms next week. THAT will probably be taking up most of my time. So until next time, have a great day/ week.


	9. Capital Interest Part I

And I am back from the dead! Hope I wasn't missed too much. I did not intend to wait this long before putting up this chapter. Between midterms and trying to take advantage of specials in videogames (World of Tanks), I really didn't do any writing. I am so sorry about the wait. I will try my best to make this chapter the best one yet.

Also, I went through and added some more details in previous chapters, so if something seems new it is most likely because I added it in when I was revising.

* * *

Act 1: Revelation

Chapter 9: Capital Interest Part I

The large black jet landed at the base's dimly lit helipad and powered down its two powerful engines. Hopper quickly disembarked the craft through a side door and proceeded over to where Dr. Hamilton was waiting. The two men exchanged greetings and continued to the conference room.

"Well, what is your response Hopper?" Hamilton asked with a slight bit of anxiety in his voice.

"We accept your gracious offer." Hopper replied with a devious smile across his face. "We have even brought some weapons for you."

"Let me guess, you want several Pokémon in return."

"That would be correct. Preferably something destructive if you know what I mean."

"Very well," Hamilton replied, reaching into his lab coat pocket and retrieving two small red and white balls. He threw them both into the air, releasing a large orange dragon and an equally large blue turtle with cannons coming out of its shell. "You have already met Charizard, and this is Blastoise. Each should have the power you seek." He then pulled a small black object out of another pocket. "This devise will tell you everything there is to know about these two." Hamilton then returned the two Pokémon to their respective Pokéball and handed them to Hopper.

"Thank you Hamilton. I'll be sure they are put to good use." The two men then walked out back to where the jet was. The last of the equipment onboard was being unloaded as they approached; Hopper walked over to one of the crates and took out strange looking object.

"I don't know if you have guns in your dimension or not, but this is a handheld sonic cannon. It is capable of incapacitating pretty much anything that has ears. Simply point in the direction of your target and pull the trigger until your victim is no longer conscious." Hopper then put the gun back into the crate and let the grunts carry it off. Another soldier approached Hamilton with a large radio. "This radio will allow us to communicate directly with each other. This man will set it up where ever you request. I must go now, it is getting late and I am expected to be back soon, until we meet again Hamilton." Hopper extended his hand and Hamilton shook it firmly.

"When can I expect to see you again?"

"Around two days. Another jet will come by later to pick up our remaining men. I must be going now." With that Hopper boarded the large, black jet. Soon the base was filled with the roar of its twin engines as it gained thrust and lifted into the evening sky.

* * *

Johnson set the headset down, still not completely understanding what was happening. Lucario was still standing about eight yards from him and the others still had their rifles pointed at him.

"Stand down." Johnson said rather slowly, to which the others only slightly lowered their weapons. "I said stand down!" He ordered irritably as the others finally lowered their rifles.

"What did General Ryan have to say?" Snow asked in a serious voice.

"Something above all of your security clearances but right now that doesn't really matter."

"What do you mean?" The Chief chimed in.

"Do any of you know of the Orion project?" Johnson questioned and got several nods in reply. "Now do any of you know what the objective of the Orion Project was?" This time everyone shook their head. "Thought so, to put it plainly, it is a dimensional transport project."

"Dimensional transport, that sounds like something out of a science fiction story." Eagle 5 said in disbelief. "So what did the general have to say about the Orion Project?"

"The Belkans have reactivated it; we start out for Orion base tomorrow morning." Johnson stopped and took a deep breath before continuing, "And Lucario will be coming with us. He is going to assist us in driving the Belkans out of Osea."

After he finished the last part of the orders, Captain Johnson received blank stares from the four soldiers under his command, each trying to process what their CO (commanding officer) had just said. Lucario couldn't help but smile at the confounded looks on the marines' faces. He quickly sent a small message to Johnson.

"_I think I will let you explain. I will be back in an hour with my companion."_

Johnson went to question Lucario about his "companion" but didn't have a chance to as Lucario swiftly disappeared into the forest. Johnson's men had finally regained themselves and approached him.

"Why is that _thing_ being involved in _our_ military operation?" The Chief angrily spat out.

"For many reasons, one, he can fight. Two, the Orion Project is most likely the reason for his being here, and finally, because the general said so." Johnson retorted in a rather harsh tone.

"I am _not_ working with that thing."

"You will follow your orders or I will have you court martialed." Johnson quickly responded with large amounts of irritation in his voice. He then turned the rest of his squad. "Do any of you have an issue with our current orders?" No one else spoke up, intimidated by their CO. If any of them did have an issue with the orders, it quickly departed from their mind.

"No? Good, now let's go find our new ally. I need to make some things very clear to him." Eagle squad packed up their gear and followed Johnson in the direction that Lucario had gone into the woods.

* * *

"Alright Zorua, time for a quick training session but this time there is a condition; you can only use melee attacks. There are two reasons for this. One, we are still close to the city and we don't need to draw attention to ourselves. And there is another reason that I will tell you later. Now, begin"

Zorua knew there was some lesson Lucario wanted to teach her, and that he was going to make it as painful as possible for her. All the evidence she needed for her conclusion was the smirk across Lucario's face. She decided to take an unorthodox approach and sprinted straight at Lucario, hoping to trick him. As she neared her target, Zorua jumped into the air and lunged at Lucario, who easily sidestepped the attack. However, Zorua had been expecting this and immediately struck at where Lucario had sidestepped to. To her surprise, she struck only air. She did not have to wait long to find Lucario as a heavy blow was delivered to her back. Zorua tried to retaliate but once again only struck air. By now Zorua was slightly annoyed by how her training was going. She once again charged at Lucario, going for a Fury Swipes attack. Once her barrage of swipes started, Lucario expertly dodged, evaded, or blocked every attack. Zorua's rage was starting to build up and her concentration all but disappeared as she charged in for a third time. This time she did not even plan out any form of attack, blinded by her rage.

Lucario knew that it was time for him to end this; he had made his point. Truthfully, he expected her to last longer than she did and was disappointed at how short this session was. He formed a purple bone across his paws and waited for Zorua to lunge out at him before he swung it around. The attack sent Zorua flying into a nearby tree with enough force to knock her out. Lucario discarded his staff and it dissolved into the air as soon as it left his paws. He walked over and picked up the unconscious fox Pokémon and carried her back over to where his backpack was. He carefully set her down under a tree and retrieved his canteen from the backpack. Lucario swiftly drained its contents, thirsty from the days hiking and training. He knew he would have to refill both his and Zorua's canteens sooner or later.

Lucario sat down next to Zorua and began to meditate. He had not meditated in a while, between all the walking and training, Lucario had not had any time to. Lucario cleared his mind and let his aura flow into his surroundings, letting him see for miles around him. He noticed the marines coming in his general direction as well as a large stream from which he could refill the canteens. He began to explore the surrounding region for a path to take to get to the Orion base when his concentration was broken by a blow to the gut.

"_That_ was for not holding still." Zorua, who had just awakened, yelled before striking again. "And _that_ was for knocking me out."

Lucario didn't retaliate, he knew he deserved it, but still didn't regret any of his actions. He merely laughed at Zorua's actions and choice of words.

"Good to see you're awake. Now, time to see if you actually learned anything." Lucario chastised to sparring partner. "One question, two answers. Why did I win?"

"You won because I couldn't land any attacks on you." Zorua sighed, defeated.

"Very good, you got the easy answer, now time for the other. Why couldn't you defeat me?"

"….."

"Don't know do you?" Lucario said mockingly.

"No, I don't, why couldn't I beat you, oh wise one?" Zorua mocked in return.

"Simple, by the end of our sparring match you were too enraged to think clearly." Lucario paused to let Zorua absorb what he said. "You cannot win against an opponent if you don't plan out your attacks. You tried to do this at the beginning but then you lost your patience and attacked like a dumb brute." Zorua remained silent for a bit before responding.

"I see. What do you plan on doing about this?"

"Train more; we will get to that eventually as well as work on your agility. Now come on, our new friends are looking for us." Lucario said as he shouldered the backpack and set off toward the stream he found earlier. Zorua trailed Lucario, still slightly annoyed at how easily she had been beaten.

* * *

"Sir, our operatives in Oured have reported success in all missions except for one." Hopper reported to General Marshal.

"Which one ran into trouble?" Marshal asked with only trace amounts of worry in his voice.

"We were not able to access the Capital District Marine Base. It will be fully operational at the time of our attack tonight; however, all others will be severely crippled."

"This is a setback, but we will overcome it. How did the business with Hamilton go?"

"I managed to acquire two Pokémon for our use tonight. From what I have studied on the way back," Hopper said and handed the small black tablet to his superior, "Both are more than powerful enough for the special objective we had in mind."

General Marshal gazed through the small device before turning back to Hopper.

"Very well, I will let you handle this task then rendezvous with our forces at the primary objective. The briefing is at 2000 hours. See you then and make sure all the equipment and men are ready by then."

"Yes sir." Hopper saluted and departed.

* * *

"Sir, where do you think Lucario went?" Snow asked, curious as to how long they were going to search for him.

"He went off in this direction. Besides, if we don't find him, I am sure he will come find us." Johnson replied, still annoyed that Lucario had just run off.

"_Correct you are Captain Johnson."_ Lucario said as he emerged from the trees with Zorua behind him, once again startling the marines with his sudden appearance.

"God dangit, will you stop doing that." The Chief shouted out, lowering his rifle.

"_Nah, you would miss it, besides it keeps you alert."_ Lucario said, mocking the marine for is paranoia.

Captain Johnson let out a low sigh at Lucario's response before walking up to him.

"Listen to me well Lucario." He started in a stern tone. "I am glad to have your assistance on our mission, but I will not tolerate this type of behavior. You disappear and reappear with no warning and have left us completely in the dark in this hell hole of a situation we are in. I have been trying to find your ass for two days, so I am not in a good mood."

Now Lucario was visible annoyed, over the past five years he had developed a strong distaste for the human species. While the humans he knew were of a different dimension; he was sure these humans would be no different. He crossed his arms across his chest and let out a large sigh.

"_And you listen to me, captain. I am not one of your marines, and if you think you have had a bad week, suck it up. I have been sent to a different world, my body experimented on, and been hunted down by several groups, including you. On top of that, I have been imprisoned by your kind for FIVE years. Be glad I am helping you at all, captain."_ Lucario finished his rant and turned to leave; he could not take much more human contact in one day and was about to lose his temper.

"Wait," Johnson weakly said, "If everything you just said is true, then your life has been hell. As a commanding officer in the military, I am used to having my orders followed to the letter without a moment's hesitation. You are right; you're not one of my men. I will only ask you to respect my opinion when the time comes."

Lucario stood with his back to the marines and took in what their CO had just said.

"_When one can count the number of days you have had your freedom one two hands, one tends not to give up that freedom in any way, shape, or form."_ Lucario said in a sad voice before turning to face the marines and switching to a more serious tone. _"I respect your ability to lead, when the time comes, I will do what is needed."_

Lucario and Johnson looked into each other's eyes, each having a new found respect for their counterpart. Lucario looked up at the setting sun before continuing the conversation.

"_It is getting late, I will make camp nearby. I will see you in the morning unless something comes up."_ Without another word, both he and Zorua disappeared back into the woods. Lieutenant Snow walked up to Johnson and stared off in the direction Lucario and Zorua went off in letting out a low whistle.

"Man he is fast. By the way, who was that behind Lucario?"

"I would imagine that it is his companion that he mentioned before. I will ask him about it tomorrow morning, but for now, let's set up camp for the night."

* * *

Hopper was inspecting the massive IL-67s that were parked outside their hangers. Each was being loaded with heavy equipment or room cleared out for the paratroopers that would occupy it before long. He couldn't help but marvel at some of the engineering master pieces that were being loaded into the transport bays. At least twenty Dominbell hover tanks were being loaded into several of the transports. Each tank carrying a powerful, high frequency, 90mm laser cannon, enough armor to shrug off hits from most man portable rockets, and enough speed to relocate to areas of need quickly. Satisfied with the preparations, Hopper set off for the briefing room; he entered as General Marshal began briefing over one thousand paratroopers and tankers that were participated on this mission.

"Gentlemen, our finest hour is upon us. Before the sun rises tomorrow morning, Oured will be in flames. You all have been chosen for this mission because of your experience and loyalty to the Belkan armed forces. Our object is nothing short of the complete ruin of the Osean capital. You will accomplish this by infiltrating Oured International Airport in transports rigged with Osean IFF transponders under strict radio silence. The Osean defense will be in chaos due to preplaced explosives and other means of sabotage. Once the airport is secured, you will split into four different groups. Each group will have a different objective throughout the city. Group A will stay and defend OIA from any possible counter attack. Group B will attack and destroy the industrial sector of the city. Group C will advance into the downtown area and demolish as many buildings as possible. Group D will go to the capital district and destroy the government buildings. After your objective is complete, you are to rendezvous back at the airport for extraction. This will be the first battle of the Second Belkan War, let us make the history books for future generations. For Belka, let us march to victory!"

General Marshal finished his speech to a roar of cheers and applause from the troops in the room. Marshal walked off the stage when Lieutenant Hopper approached him.

"Sir, the loading is proceeding on schedule."

"Very good, with any luck, this victory will bring about a new era in the world, an era of Belkan dominance." Marshal replied. "Good luck with your objective Hopper. When we meet again, we will be in a new world.

"Thank you sir. Now, I will return to making sure everything is in place."

* * *

Lucario was having another dream; he and Zorua had been asleep for several hours when it started. This one was different from the past three; it was very clear and vivid. Lucario could see a city, Oured to be specific, in flames, being attacked by large amounts of belligerents that he didn't recognize. He could see the chaos on the streets as fighting broke out across the city. However, there was one detail that stuck out to him the most, the capitol building being destroyed by what could only be Hyper Beams. This was when Lucario forced himself awake. He was panting and drenched in sweat; he also noticed that Zorua was staring at him.

"You have another vision?" She asked with both fear and curiosity in her voice. She may not know too much about these visions, but she did know that disasters always seem to follow them.

"Yes, it was worse than you could imagine, all the destruction and death." Lucario wheezed back in reply before standing up. "Come on, we need to warn the marines."

* * *

All of Eagle squad jolted awake at the voice screaming in their minds. After a quick scan of their surroundings, Lucario and Zorua emerged once again from the trees.

"_Get ahold of General Ryan, NOW!"_

"What is going on?" Johnson inquired in a serious tone.

"_Oured is going to be attacked within the hour. You need to get whatever defenses you have ready."_ Lucario said clearly, reading Johnson's mind as he went so he could respond faster. _"I know this because I can see a short ways into the future in visions or dreams. Time is running out so I suggest you get that radio of yours set up fast."_

Johnson nodded at Snow who proceeded to set up the radio then turned back to Lucario.

"And just how accurate are the 'visions' of yours?" Johnson asked skeptically.

"_So for, I am three for three, all of which have been in the last week."_

"Alright sir, I got a line open with CDMC. You can transmit whenever you are ready." Snow said a few moments later.

"This is Eagle lead calling Defense Command. We have an urgent situation report."

* * *

"Lieutenant Hopper, we are fifteen minutes out." The pilot called out from the cockpit of the massive transport aircraft.

"Good, initiate the first prestrike measures." Hopper responded as the pilot began inputting commands into a small dashboard, uploading viruses into key facilities. Hopper smiled as he looked at his command display and green lights began popping up across a map of the city.

* * *

"Eagle lead, this is Wolf. What is this urgent report of yours?" General Ryan asked, slightly worried at what was developing.

"Is anyone else in your presence, sir?"

"No, I am in my office. Now tell me, what the hell is going on."

"Lucario believes that Oured will be attacked within the hour, probably less."

"And how exactly does he know this?"

"He says we saw it in a vision of the future; he also claims that these visions are 100% accurate. Personally sir, I believe he is correct, with the recent Belkan activity, I believe that a large scale strike could very well be possible."

Ryan let out a heavy sigh; his worst fears were coming true. If we ordered his troops to scramble and nothing happened; he would definitely lose his command. However, if he did nothing and this attack did take place; the consequences would be catastrophic.

"Alright, I pray to God that you are right. Where are you currently at, I will have you picked up and brought back to the city. In the meantime, I will order the marine division to scramble to Oured."

Johnson relayed his coordinates and Ryan wrote them down on a small piece of paper before rushing off to the command room. Upon entering the large room, he handed the paper to a soldier at a computer monitor and relayed his orders for a Blackhawk to be dispatched there. He then rushed off to his sector of the room.

"Major General, bring base status to level red and get me in contact with Capital District Air Command." Ryan ordered before slamming a button on his console; the base erupted in klaxons as men were jolted from their peaceful slumber, each grabbing their combat gear and rushing to their respective battle stations on the base.

"Have you gotten ahold of Air Command yet?" Ryan asked his second in command.

"No sir, as a matter of fact, I cannot get ahold of anyone. It is as if the entire com net is down."

"Alright, I want Capital Defense Plan A in action now. And get a battalion deployed around the Capitol building with a company of M6 Linebackers and M1A2s in support."

"Yes sir!"

The base was at full strength when the order to scramble went out. The Capital District Marine Division had a variety of equipment at its disposal, the most powerful being the fearsome M1A2 Abrams MBT. The base currently had three M1A2 companies with fourteen tanks each. In addition to these, ten companies of M2A3 Bradleys, two companies of M6 Linebackers, two companies of M247 Sergeant Yorks, one company of M3 Recon Bradleys, and one company of M109A6 Paladins were also stationed at the base. In the air, CDMC had two squadrons of X-36 Agility Fighters, one squadron of A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, two squadrons of AH-1W Super Cobras, ten squadrons of UH-60 Blackhawks, and one squadron of AH-64 Apache Longbows. The division was also at full combat strength with a total of three thousand marines stationed at the base, excluding the pilots and tankers.

It only took a few minutes for the first of the rifle companies being deployed to the capital distract to exit the base gate. The armored column was made up of fifty four M2A3s, fourteen M6 Linebackers, and fourteen M1A2s; each of the M2s was carrying six fully armed combat troops for a total of three hundred and twenty four marines. Another fifty Bradleys with a full company of tank and M247 support set off for the industrial sector of the city. The remaining troops were either getting ready to board their Blackhawks or were to defend the base from possible attack.

"What do we have radar scope?" Ryan asked.

"Just a column of transport aircraft bound for Air Command, wait, hold that, the aircraft are breaking toward OIA and are descending." The sergeant manning the radar responded.

"Alright, send an airborne regiment to Oured International, I bet you those are not our transports."

"Sir, air raid warning!" The radar operator yelled out. "I count fifteen contacts bearing three-zero-five, speed 1100, distance 50."

"Order the Patriots to engage once they are in range! And have some M6s and M247s ready to meet those that get through."

"Yes sir!"

* * *

"Bandits inbound, radar ops classifies as SU-47s, let's light em up boys." The commander of the northern most Patriot battery ordered.

"Roger that, first contact is now within range, engaging."

There was a load roar as the first volley of SAMs took off towards their targets. The base had three missile batteries on the north and east areas of the base, that meant twelve missiles could be fired before the batteries would have to reload, not enough to kill all the incoming bandits.

* * *

"Missiles have locked and are tracking." The air defense officer reported. The largest screen in the command room currently had the radar image up, clearly showing the twelve missiles reaching out to their targets. This proved to be a short, but very stressful period of time; each missile that missed meant one more plane that would get through. The screen began lighting up as missiles impacted their targets. In only a few seconds all the missiles had either hit or missed their targets. Ten of the missiles struck their targets and only five bandits remained on course for the marine base. Ryan hoped that the remaining air defenses would handle the surviving aircraft, but they never got a chance to.

* * *

The lead pilot managed to avoid the missile targeted at him, but now there were only five planes in his squadron remaining.

"Damn, those SAMs preformed far too well." Daemon leader swore to himself. "All remaining Daemon elements form up on me. Let us surprise these Osean pigs; prepare to launch the cruise missiles."

Normal SU-47s wouldn't be able to carry the ordinance that Daemon squadron had. These planes had been specially modified with Dimensional Technology to allow them to carry their enhanced payloads.

"Targets are locked; launch and break off to OIA to rearm and refuel."

Each plane dropped two missiles before breaking off and heading toward the city.

* * *

"Vampire, vampire! Bandits appear to be launching cruise missiles. There are a total of ten inbound missiles, impact in thirty seconds."

Ryan's eyes went wide at the realization of the potential damage these missiles could do.

"Get everything off the runway and into the air, NOW!" Ryan screamed out.

Every helicopter and plane on the base was now scrambling to clear the blast zone. However, do to the lack of organization; many did not have time to get off the ground before the first missiles arrived.

Each missile detonated upon impacting its target area, causing massive explosions throughout the base. Countless vehicles and aircraft were set ablaze, soldiers were scattered across the open, most of them dead or dying. Secondary explosions started going off as munitions and fuel caught fire and detonated.

General Ryan surveyed the damage from the command room, which luckily had not been hit in the missile attack. Of the units that had been exposed, he could only count a few that appeared to be intact. Only two-thirds of the airborne regiment had cleared the ground, the rest of it was destroyed, along with most of division.

"Damn, this is bad." Ryan commented before returning to the task at hand. "Alright, get me a count of all operational units still at the base and send what is left of the airborne regiment moving toward the airport with whatever support is still intact. Now, let's get the wounded to the infirmary."

The surviving fifty Blackhawks proceeded toward the city with four Apaches and ten Cobras in support; they were the last troops to leave the base.

* * *

"Sir, Daemon squadron is reporting success at the Marine base but suffered 67% losses. Pravus squadron is also reporting success with only 7% losses. Both bases are in flames, they shouldn't provide any resistance. However, Daemon also reports that there was large amounts of activity at the marine base at the time of the attack."

"This is good news other than the heavy losses of Daemon. The only troops that will be able to resist us now are those that were absent during the raids, which should only be a few units." Hopper concluded, only slightly dismayed at the losses, for this was war. "How much longer till we reach the airport?"

"We are making our final approaches now." The pilot replied as he began to rig the plane for landing.

"Good, you may proceed as planned." Hopper pulled out his command display and entered a few commands before an option came up in the center of the screen.

"**Detonate?"**

Hopper smiled as he tapped the command. Once again, green lights appeared all over the map of the city. He felt the plane touch tarmac and began to decelerate. Almost immediately, the rear ramp began lowering. As soon as the plane came to a halt on a taxi way, paratroopers began pouring out of the aircraft and firing into the terminal buildings. Each soldier was armed with a Vince assault rifle. The Vince was a bullpup rifle that fired a 30-06 round and had a small, under barrel laser cannon. Soon, other transports came to a halt and started unloading tanks into the airport. The Dominbell tanks started firing at various planes that were parked along terminals or in hangers, causing massive explosions and instantly killing the civilians onboard. Before long, orange fireballs and plumes of black smoke filled the night sky surrounding the airport.

Nordic flight had just gotten the airport in sight when chaos erupted all around them. Explosions started going off throughout the city, which instantly went dark as all of the power transformers exploded. Soon, the chaos in the airport became evident.

"Damn this is bad." Nordic leader commented, surveying the carnage below him before sending out orders to the helicopters under his command. "All Nordic elements, we will not be able to set down in the airport as planned. Instead we will take up positions surrounding the airport in an attempt to surprise the Belkan dogs as they exit the area. Where you chose to deploy will be up to your CO's, stay in rifle platoon elements, out."

Almost immediately, Blackhawks began breaking off in groups of three. Each group moved to a different location around the airport and disembarked their marines before taking off and taking up positions to cover the teams of marines.

* * *

The solitary Blackhawk didn't have any trouble locating the field where Eagle squad was located in. The pilot skillfully brought the Blackhawk done and reduced the power on the turbines so the marines could board the helicopter. Only after the helicopter started to lift into the air did the pilot notice the two guests in the back.

"What the hell?!" The pilot screamed into his helmet set, startled by the white and black animals in his helicopter.

"No time to explain." Johnson replied. "What is the status of the defense?"

"Umm," The pilot started, still surprised by the two guests, "Things could be better. Only about 40% of the division was mobilized."

"Only 40%, what happened to the other 60%?"

"They are gone; the base was hit by a missile attack when preparations were still underway. The only two areas at full defensive strength are the capital and industrial districts."

"_I need to get to the capitol building."_ Lucario said in a very serious voice, almost causing the pilot to jump out of the helicopter. Johnson quickly responded.

"Why, what is going to happen at the capitol building?"

"_Your men are going to need my help. They are going to be fighting several of my kind from what I saw. I do not know if your men can handle this by themselves."_ Johnson thought about what he knew about Lucario's 'kind' before making his decision.

"Alright, you heard him, take us to the capital district." Johnson ordered to the pilot who banked the helicopter hard to its new course. Already, fires from the city were more than visible, but the fighting has yet to start.

* * *

Alrighty, I am done with this chapter. I must say, I had an absolute BLAST writing this. Now for the technical stuff, I don't know if you all care at all about some of the stuff I have been using. Most of it is real life technology that I am sure you are semi-familiar with. However, I have also included several creations of my own. (I say my own but they are not entirely my ideas. Rikkilucario7 has been helping me come up with what we deem, Dimensional Weapons. I would like to thank him for his reviews and her support in helping me with this story.) So, in order to help you envision these Dimensional Weapons, I did some searching for military hardware that comes close to what I would design them as. I would also like to thank GameManiac for his reviews. As always, please leave a review and have a great day/ week/ month.

On a side note, I recommend reading both Rikkilucario7 and GameManiac stories. I thoroughly enjoyed both of them.

-Dimensional Weapons comparison to images on Google.-

-JT-1 Sentinels: Longer, skinnier Pelican from HALO, and painted black

-Sonic cannons: truthfully, I got nothing for these.

-Dominbell hover tanks: M8 AGS

-Vince AR: L85A3


	10. Capital Interest Part II

Let the war begin. Plenty of action for this chapter as well, but most likely won't be as long as the last one, which was the longest thing I have ever written. Anyway, enough chit chat, let's get to the action.

Due to the large amounts of action and POV shifts, time may jump back a little bit during some POV shifts, just a warning to avoid confusion.

I put a poll on my profile that will have an impact on this story. If you want to have an impact on this story, go vote, it only has two choices but depending on the outcome, there are many different things I could do.

* * *

Act I: Revelation

Chapter 10: Capital Interest Part II

"Sparrow to Cardinal, do you read me?"

"This is Cardinal, I read you."

"I got what appears to be a two rifle companies with armor support heading your way. These tanks aren't like anything I have ever seen; I advise extreme caution. We are pulling back to your position now."

"Copy that, see you in a few." Cardinal leader responded through his helmet mic. "Alright Cardinals, we got some company coming our way. Sparrow squad is estimating around two hundred men plus tanks coming down this road. Falcon squad is holding the three story building across the street and Sparrow squad is going to reinforce us here. As soon as the Belkans reach the intersection, we light them up like the Fourth of July." The ten men surrounding him all nodded in consent before checking and clearing their weapons; they were going to be in for a rough night.

* * *

"Lieutenant, the other two task forces our in route to their objectives." The sergeant called out from the radio operator's seat of the command vehicle.

"Good, what is our ETA to the capital district?" Hopper replied, confident that they would meet only light resistance due to the destruction of the two military bases that surrounded Oured.

"We are about fifteen minutes out sir."

The column of two hundred and fifty men and five tanks continued down the road, unaware of the Osean defenders lurking in the buildings.

* * *

"Alright boys, light em up!" Cardinal lead called out. Immediately, three AT-4 rockets stretched out at two different tanks that soon became obscured in the resulting explosions. This was followed by a volley of 40mm grenades that landed among the confused Belkan troops.

* * *

"Sir, Task Force B reports enemy fire outside OIA." The sergeant reported in. "Wait; hold that, Task Force C is also reporting en…"

BANG!

The tank shook violently from the explosion. Each person in the tank had to readjust in their seat after the blast. Other than a small scratch and scorch mark on the frontal armor, the tank was fine.

"What the hell was that?!" Hopper yelled out. Only to be drowned out by the sounds of multiple small explosions.

"Osean ambush," A report came in through the radio, "They are in the three story building at 11 o' clock."

"Gunner, target building, three story complex at bearing 020, range 50, you may engage when ready."

"Roger that sir." The gunner's comment was barely audible due to the release of energy from the main gun. The cannon went through its short three second recharge period before firing once again at the target building.

By now the other four tanks had also started to engage. After fifteen seconds of continuous firing from all five tanks, the building collapsed, killing all who were inside.

* * *

"What is our ETA to the capital district?" Johnson asked the pilot.

"We are about five minutes out, sir." The pilot responded, oblivious the pair of fighter jets closing from the side. Lucario sensed their approach and used Force Palm on the side door of the helicopter, sending it flying into the air. He then summoned up a small but powerful Aura Sphere and launched it with all his might on an intercept course with one of the approaching fighters. The unfortunate Belkan pilot didn't have any time to react as his plane exploded around him. The second attacking fighter fired a burst from its 30mm cannon which impacted the Blackhawk in its tail section, effectively severing it from the rest of the aircraft. The helicopter went into a tailspin without the counter balance that the tail rotor provided.

"Mayday, mayday, Eagle flight is hit. We are going down in sector G-15. There are enemy fighters in the area, I repeat, there are enemy fighters in the…" The pilot was cut short by the impact of helicopter into an empty parking lot. The crashed Blackhawk continued to skid across the ground, sending up a furry of sparks in its wake before colliding into the side of a building.

Lucario struggled to get up in wake of the impact. His vision was still somewhat blurry but he could hear the crackling of a fire and smell its smoke. He saw Zorua unconscious at his feet when his vision came back into focus; he carefully picked her up before exiting the burning wreck. Lucario turned around to see three of the marines supporting each other following in his footsteps. Only moments later, the helicopter exploded in a giant fireball that lit up the night sky.

* * *

"So, how bad is the damage?" General Ryan asked the Major General.

"Most of the fires have been put out and the wounded who we believed can be saved have been moved to the infirmary. We have also had to convert several of the barracks into makeshift wards." The Major General said with a heavy sigh. "We are estimating over one thousand dead plus three hundred wounded, most of whom are in critical condition. Of the remaining men, we have about two hundred who are capable of fighting.

"As far as equipment goes, most of it is wrecked beyond repair. Of what was exposed in the blast zone, only the heavy armored vehicles survived. To supplement this, we also have the aircraft and artillery that was in the reinforced hangers at the time. In all, we have nine operational M1A2s, five M247s, eight X-36s, and all fourteen Paladins plus their crews. However, the hanger doors are currently jammed shut; we are working on getting them open."

"That's not much, but it will have to do." Ryan replied, distraught at the heavy losses. "What is the status of the troops in the city?"

"Both Delta and Echo battalions have made it to their defense zones and are digging in now. However, Nordic flight couldn't make it into OIA. They took up secondary positions around airport instead; they were just making contact when I left."

"Very well, let's try to scrape together whatever reinforcements we can. They are going to need it."

* * *

Cardinal lead watched in horror as the 'thought to be destroyed tanks' emerged from the smoke and began firing lasers into Falcon squad's building. The three story building only lasted a few seconds before collapsing.

"Cardinal squad, we are pulling back." He ordered and taking time to fire one more burst from his M4 to take out one more Belkan invader before running to the back of the building with his six remaining men followed by Sparrow squads four survivors.

"Where is your CO?" Cardinal lead asked one of the panicked soldiers.

"Our CO and XO are dead sir. I guess that leaves you in command, sir." One of the privates said in a quaking voice.

"Damn, this is bad. I guess we should haul it over to the capital district. It is closer than the industrial area and we can use side streets to avoid that column." The sergeant gestured back to the road with the tanks on it; he got several nods and 'Yes sirs' in response. The ragtag group of defenders set off toward the capital district when a Blackhawk came spirally down and crashed in a parking lot not too far off, a short amount of time later, it explodes in a grand display of combusting jet fuel.

"Dang, that was one of ours." The sergeant swore under his breathe. "Come on let's go see if there are any survivors."

* * *

Lucario was able to make out Johnson, Snow and the Chief. He knew the other had perished in the explosion if they had survived the crash itself. Johnson and Snow were supporting the Chief, who appeared to have a large gash along his leg. Lucario set Zorua down on the concrete before walking over to there the three shaken marines were resting.

"_How bad is it?"_ Lucario inquired, inspecting the cut on the marine's lower leg.

"It is bad enough to keep him from walking." Johnson replied before looking back at the burning hulk that held four of his fellow countrymen. "He needs a medical attention badly; unfortunately, most of our gear just got barbecued."

"_I am no medic, but I can heal him."_ Lucario replied before tearing the uniform at the knee.

"What are you planning on doing?" The Chief asked, pain evident in his voice.

"_Watch." _Lucario then focused aura across the palm of his hands and placed them over the cut. The immense pain that occupied the Chief's leg disappeared, replaced by the soothing feeling of aura surrounding his leg. After a few more seconds of this treatment, Lucario pulled his hands back and dispersed the aura that had surrounded his hands. The three marines found themselves looking at a perfectly normal leg that held no evidence that a cut even existed.

"How did you do that?" The Chief asked, dumbfounded as he moved his newly healed leg about.

"_I simply accelerated the healing process with aura."_ Lucario replied nonchalantly.

"Wait, I thought aura was destructive and explosive." Johnson asked. Lucario almost laughed at the stupidity of the comment.

"_Not quite. Aura is like water; it has different states that have different functions. These states just do not have any differences in their appearance."_ Lucario stood up and looked off into the distance. _"Some more of your countries soldiers are coming this way. I think it would be best if you talk to them first."_

"Agreed, why don't you just wait back there for a bit while I sort this out?"

Lucario nodded, picked up Zorua, and walked over the area Johnson had pointed out. A few seconds later, he heard someone calling out to them.

"Hey, you guys alright? That was one hell of a crash." The approaching soldier yelled out.

"Yah, no kidding," Johnson replied, "So, what element are you?"

"Sergeant Nicholas, Cardinal squad. We also have the remnants of Sparrow squad."

"Captain Johnson, Eagle squad." The two men briefly shook hands.

"I thought that Eagle squad was deployed to the capital district. What the hell are you doing all the way over here?"

"We were on a mission out in the forest at the edge of the city." Johnson replied, it was not a lie per se, but it wasn't the complete truth either. "We were on our way to the capitol building when our bird got blasted, lost four good men in that one."

"Sorry to hear that captain, but we should probably get moving. The Belkans appear to have three different forces moving throughout the city. One is heading for the industrial sector, another is heading downtown, and the final on is heading for the capital district. Their tanks are ripping us to shreds. They fire lasers, freaking lasers, and our AT-4s don't even scratch them."

Johnson was wondering what to do with Lucario by this point. He was torn between revealing him and keeping him hidden. When he was about to speak, he heard Lucario's voice in his head.

"_Don't, they are not ready. I will follow behind you'll; when the time comes, I will reveal myself."_

"Alright then, let's get moving to the capital district then." Johnson replied to Nicholas as the group headed off down the street.

* * *

The Lieutenant Colonel of Battalion D was observing his troop deployments around the industrial sector, smiling at his masterfully planned ambush. According to the radio reports that were coming in from the various Nordic elements, two Belkan rifle companies would be coming down the road that bordered Razgriz Park. Inside the park, he had deployed four M1A2s, twelve M2A3s, and a rifle company of infantry. The vehicles were covered in camouflage netting, making them rather difficult to pick out in the heavily forested park. The infantry had taken up positions in hastily prepared foxholes. Every fifth foxhole was armed with a FGM-148 Javelin missile launcher and a M2 50 Caliber machine gun. The tankers and missile armed troops had orders to destroy the tanks first; apparently they were a major threat. Not only did we have his ground troops, but he also had priority on air support. He was intent on making the Belkans pay for attack Oured.

Meanwhile, in the capital district, the commander of Battalion E was not having a good time. All of his armored vehicles were exposed as there was no cover for them to hide in. He had them deployed in groups of five, one M1A2 and four M2A3s, at various intersections in the capital district. The M6 Linebackers were deployed along the top of several parking garages that were in the capital district to keep the sky clear of Belkan aircraft while the infantry was deployed by squad into buildings overlooking the suspected path of approach of the advancing Belkan units. He knew it wasn't the ideal set up, but it was the best he could manage in the given circumstances.

* * *

"Ugh, what happened?" Zorua moaned. "Where are we?"

"Oh good, you are back with me." Lucario replied as carefully trailed the marines from a distance, sticking to the shadows. "First, helicopter got shot down. Second, we are in the capital district of Oured, again." Zorua jumped down from Lucario's arms and started to walk beside him.

"So, what are we planning on doing and why aren't we with the soldiers up there?"

"Man you ask a lot of questions." Lucario sighed. "We are going to the capitol building to defend it and we aren't up with them because some other soldiers showed up and are now with them."

A large explosion signaled that the fighting had started nearby. Ahead of him, Lucario saw the marines start running; only Johnson glanced back at Lucario before continuing on. Lucario stopped and decided to assess the situation ahead with his aura vision. He saw carnage unfolding along the Belkans axis of advance as they easily subdued the Osean defenders.

* * *

The Abrams tank commander watched in horror as the four Bradleys assigned to his force were incinerated. Luckily, he had positioned his tank on the other street of the intersection, out of the Belkans line of sight.

"Gunner, target tank, twelve o' clock, Sabot, fire when ready." The commander ordered as a Belkan tank entered the intersection. Moments later, the massive tank shook from the recoil of the 120mm main gun. The shell fell apart shortly after leaving the barrel, allowing the 40mm depleted uranium dart to travel un-interfered to its target. "Hit!" The commander called out as the target tank burst into flames.

By now, the Belkans had detected the solitary tank and started engaging it. Another tank came around the corner and began to train its gun toward the M1.

"Driver, get us out of here, full back; fire off smoke grenades."

The heavy tank lunged backward and left a cloud of dense smoke where it once was. Seconds later, a barrage of lasers flew down the street. Amazingly, none of the deadly beams impacted the tank.

"Gunner, target tank, one o' clock, Sabot, fire when ready." The commander called out, viewing the Belkan tank through the M1's thermal scopes. He smirked to himself; the Belkans never put much effort into thermal imaging, now they were paying for that mistake once again. The tank rocked back as the main gun let loose another depleted uranium dart. "Hit!"

A third tank emerged through the smoke and fired its 90mm laser cannon. The laser pierced the tank's heavy armor, went through the crew compartment, and into the ammunition storage bay. The 120mm shells ignited, exploding violently through the blowout panels on top of the tank's turret, sparing the crew inside from a fiery death.

* * *

"This is not acceptable!" Hopper yelled out. "We were told that the marine division was destroyed, so why are we running into an ambush every ten blocks and engaging enemy heavy armor?" It would be the understatement of the century to say that he was not pleased about losing two of his five tanks and the slow progress his force had been making.

* * *

Lucario quit using his aura vision. He had found what he was looking for, or more of who he was looking for and what he had in his possession. Two small red and white orbs; Lucario could feel the aura of the Pokémon inside, a Charizard and a Blastoise.

"Great, a fire type, there has to be a fire type." Lucario thought to himself. Then something dawned on him; if that man has two Pokémon, then he has been in contact with Alpha.** (Name I gave to Hamilton's organization. I added it back in chapter 1 when I was editing.)** This meant that this man knew information; Lucario delved into his mind, intent on gathering all the information he could. A few minutes later, Lucario exited Hopper's mind, a smirk across his face; he now knew every Belkan military secret surrounding the Orion Project and the current attack.

By now, most of the Osean defenders in the capital district were either destroyed or in full retreat. The remnants of Hopper's force came to a stop in front of the capitol building; its grey marble was red from reflecting the surrounding fires. Hopper sat on top of his tank, looking at the many different federal buildings of the Osean capital city. He hopped off the turret and walked up to one of the smaller buildings.

"Let's see if these Pokémon are as powerful as Hamilton claims." Hopper said in a low voice as he released his two latest weapons. "Charizard, Blastoise, use Hyper Beam. Destroy this building and reduce it to rubble."

Immediately, the two large Pokémon began charging up the attack; after a few moments they fired simultaneously. After a few seconds of the beams impacting the building, it exploded in a grand display of crumbling concrete, creating a large dust cloud. After the dust settled, all that was visible as piles of rubble of the once proud Osean building. Several of the paratroopers let out a low whistle at the raw destructive power. The attack was also witnessed by fourteen Osean marines who were hiding in the shadows near the capitol building.

"Captain, what the hell was that?" Sergeant Nicholas asked in shock.

"That would most likely be the two problems our new ally spoke of." Johnson managed to say, equally as shocked at what he had just witnessed.

"What do you mean new ally?" A corporal asked.

"Remember that mission I mentioned earlier, we were assigned with tracking and gathering information on Lucario." Johnson replied in a low tone. "After a while, he found us and we received orders to investigate the Orion Project with his assistance. Of course, this whole fiasco is delaying that mission."

"Wait, you mean THE Orion Project. The project that was supposed to gather advanced weapons during the last war but was never actually completed." Nicholas interjected.

"Yes, that would be the one."

"That would explain the high tech tanks and guns the Belkans have been using to overwhelm us." Nicholas pondered what he had just learned. "So if Lucario is assisting you, where is he?"

"_I'm right here."_ Lucario said as he appeared behind the group of soldiers, giving all but three of them panic attacks; Lucario gave a small laugh at their reaction. _"Never gets old."_

"For the love of God, will you stop doing that?" The Chief nearly yelled, but managed to keep his voice down as another building exploded due to the two Pokémon attacks.

"_I have already answered that question. Now, sit back and enjoy the smack down."_ Lucario said as he and Zorua sprinted toward the entrance of the capitol building. "So, Zorua, how do you feel about taking on a Charizard?"

"I've handled worse." Zorua replied in a slightly arrogant tone.

"Well then, should we show these two how Pokémon what true fighting is and send their overlords packing?"

"That sounds alright with me."

Lucario looked up at his two opponents, who were charge yet another Hyper Beam; this one, however, was aimed at the capitol building.

"Let me deflect his attack before we start."

Lucario then leapt ahead of Zorua and began to focus large amounts of aura into is paws. He came to a stop in front of the large, elegant building; directly in the path of the two incoming Hyper Beams. He raised his hands in front of him and discharged the aura stored around his paws into a small, concentrated shield that was just big enough to block both attacks. Lucario felt his feet skid backwards across the rough ground as the attacks impacted his barrier. After a few moments, the attack finished with an explosion against the aura shield. Lucario reabsorbed the aura from the shield into his body, regaining his strength moments before the smoke cleared. He stood, defiantly, in front of the capitol building, giving the man who just ordered its destruction a glare that could freeze hell over.

Hopper grinned as the two attacks were launched at his grand target. Just before the attacks reached their target, he saw a white blur dash in the path of the two destructive beams. Whatever it was, it managed to somehow block the two attacks, causing them to explode prematurely. The smoke began to clear, revealing a white, bipedal jackal standing in front of the capitol building. Hopper glared at the mysterious being with anger that could melt the ice caps.

Then it hit him. The white jackal in front of him was Lucario, the Pokémon who had been making the Osean news every day for the past few days. He continued his deadly glare as another small, black and red Pokémon joined Lucario at his side. Lucario also continued his icy glare at the man who exhibited every trait he despised about humans. The deadlock continued as a few paratroopers raised their rifles and the tanks trained their cannons at the possible threat. Lucario spoke first, breaking the eerie silence.

"_Give me one reason not to send you all to hell right now."_ Lucario said in a cold, harsh tone.

Hopper was almost taken aback by the bluntness of the statement, the coldness in Lucario's voice doing little to relax him. Hopper smiled as a response formed in his mind.

"Because you don't have enough power to defeat us," Hopper declared boldly, "There are two of you verses over a hundred of us." The Belkan commander gestured to his surrounding force of paratroopers and tanks. "Besides, I have these two Pokémon with me here. They alone have enough power to kill you both."

Lucario only shook his head at the gibberish his adversary has spouting out.

"_You amaze me, Hopper. You act as if you actually know anything about my kind. Oh well, we will help bring you back to reality here in a moment."_ Lucario chastised his opponent before turning to Zorua. "Let's get this over with shall we?"

"Yes, let's, either that man is crazy or just plain stupid. I will enjoy humiliating him in front of his troops." Zorua replied with a devilish grin.

Both Lucario and Zorua began charging up attacks; Lucario a large Aura Sphere and Zorua and equally as large Shadow Ball. Lucario hurled his powerful attack towards the Blastoise while Zorua fired hers at the Charizard. Both attacks struck home with massive explosions. The Blastoise was visibly hurt by the attack, but remained standing; The Charizard that was only a few yards to the blue turtle's side was also visibly shaken by the impact of the attack.

Lucario and Zorua then rushed at their dazed opponents. Lucario used Force Palm to send Blastoise hurtling toward Hopper, intent on crushing the fragile human below his own Pokémon's shell. To his disappointment, Hopper managed to dodge the incoming Pokémon, which was knocked out cold after Lucario two powerful hits. Moments later, Hopper found himself dodging an unconscious Charizard, sent flying toward him from Zorua's Night Daze attack.

Lucario and Zorua stood side by side, victoriously in front of their stunned opponent. Hopper was still unable to comprehend what just happened as he stood behind his two defeated super weapons. He barely remembered to return them to their Pokéballs before returning his gaze to Lucario.

"_As I said, you know nothing about Pokémon battles. Yet you stand there shocked that you were defeated. You humans cease to amaze me with your stupidity."_ Lucario taunted the Belkan force in front of him. _"So I will ask my question one more time. Give me one reason you all to hell right now?"_ The question came out just as cold and harsh as before.

Hopper didn't answer; he only turned around to his troops and shouted an order in an agitated voice.

"Kill them! Kill both of them!"

The three remaining tanks fired immediately, and continued a barrage of laser fire as the soldiers opened fire with their rifles and under barrel laser cannons. Their targets soon became obscured in smoke from the resulting explosions. Hopper didn't wait to see the results of the intense barrage; he instead mounted the nearest tank and headed in the direction of the airport. A few minutes later, explosions would be heard in the area he just left as well as frantic calls for help over the radio.

Lucario watched as his humiliated target fled from him. He had quickly whipped up and Aura Shield to protect himself and Zorua. He waited for the Belkan's weak attack to finish before dropping the shield and retaliating. He summoned up two large Aura Spheres and launched them at two groups of Belkan soldiers, not caring if he killed them or not; his patience for these humans had long sense passed. He charged through the smoke, three long metal blades extending from each hand. The first group of soldiers never knew what hit them, still dazed by the two explosions that had just decimated two squads of their force. Most of the soldiers were on the ground, bleeding, before they even saw Lucario among them. He moved quickly and efficiently, using his deadly blades to slash and hack his way through the Belkan column.

The two remaining tanks attempted stop the rampaging Pokémon; their efforts only added to the chaos of the moment, as they hit other Belkan troops more often than not. Eventually, their gunners started getting closer to hitting their target, turning his wrath toward them instead of the more vulnerable foot soldiers. Both tanks soon found their long barrels dissected into several pieces, rendering them inoperable.

This threw the remaining Belkans over the edge; they dropped their weapons and began to surrender. Each raising their hands in defeat; however, Lucario was intent on continuing his rampage. He was almost on top of the trembling soldiers when a voice rang through the night.

"Lucario, that's enough. These men are no longer a threat." Captain Johnson called out as he and his ragtag squad came out from behind the capitol building. "We have rules to war, just because these Belkan dogs don't follow them doesn't mean we don't either."

"_Fine, I'll let the dogs live."_ Lucario spat out, disgust in his voice; he dissipated the metal claws that had slain countless Belkans before turning away from the men who had been mere seconds from death.

"Sergeant, call command and see if they can get us any reinforcements. I don't think we are going to need them, but I think we are some of the only combat troops left in the area. And see about getting transport for the prisoners."

"Yes sir."

* * *

Battalion D's commander watched as the Belkan column entered his kill box. He counted at least five tanks of type he had never seen plus at least two hundred foot soldiers. In just a few more moments, he would unleash all hell upon them. He nodded to his XO who radioed the call.

"All Battalion D units, you may fire at will." The order was short and to the point.

A few seconds later, the thunderous blast of the four concealed M1A2's guns shattered the silence that surrounded Razgriz Park. This was followed by a swarm of ATGMs (Anti-Tank Guided Missiles) from the Bradleys and Javelin launchers that speed toward the already smoking tanks, destroying any and all functioning equipment that survived the tanks barrage. Machine gun, rifle, and 25mm cannon fire from the forested park and surrounding building started raking the exposed Belkan foot soldiers. Two AH-64 Apaches and four Super Cobras then made a pass down the down the long road, raking the invading column with 30mm and 20mm cannons along with 70mm rockets, adding to the carnage of the ambush. After the helicopters made their pass the order to cease fire went out. Not a single soul was moving along the road. All that remained were the five smoking remains of the once high tech tanks and the bodies of the deceased Belkans.

"Too easy," The battalion commander muttered to himself, "Alright, go see if any of those poor excuses for humans lived through that, though I doubt any did."

* * *

"General Ryan, reports have come in from both the capital and industrial districts, both are reporting that the area is contained." The Major General reported. "However, it appears that most of Battalion E was destroyed or routed and the remnants of Eagle, Cardinal, and Sparrow are holding a large amount of Belkans prisoner. Finally, we have managed to get the hanger doors open. The Paladins are in firing position and the X-36s are scrambling now."

"That is quite the amount of good news." Ryan responded. "Alright, send the remaining Abrams to the capital district along with a flight of Blackhawks to retrieve the prisoners. Tell one of the X-36 pilots to do a fly over of OIA. I want to know what's going on in there."

"Yes sir." The Major General saluted and left the room, going to give out the new orders.

Ryan leaned back in his chair. He had not expected things to go so well, granted things were far from perfect, but considering the disastrous start the defense had. Now he had to wait on the report on the status of OIA; he didn't have to wait long as the Major General came back in a few minutes later.

"Well, what is the status of the airport?"

"The pilot reported a large number of Belkan transport planes were inside the airport. What should we do about this, sir?"

"Order the Paladins to bombard the tarmac, and have the X-36s strafe the surviving transports."

"Yes sir!" Once again, the Major General disappeared once again. Less than a minute later, the thunderous roar of the fourteen massive 155mm guns began their deadly barrage. Each gun firing three of their colossal shells in fifteen seconds, soon the airport would be shaken by the forty-two round barrage.

* * *

Hopper had just taken off in his JT-1 when the first of the three volleys impacted the airport. Grand explosions threw up towering pillars of smoke all over the pavement. This was repeated a few seconds later and a third time before it rounds stopped falling. Once the smoke cleared, it became clear that none of the surviving transports would be escaping as the runway was now catered in multiple areas.

He let out a low sigh as he departed for the Orion base. This battle had been lost. He failed to fully complete his objective and feared that the other task forces had obtained similar results. Now all that remained was to return and report to General Marshal the mission results. Hopper knew the general would not take his defeat lightly, but this was just the first of many battles to come.

* * *

And we are finished with the Battle of Oured. I hope you all enjoyed. In case you're wondering what happened to the task force that was ordered downtown, I will wrap that up at the start of the next chapter, 'Aftershocks'. On a side note, I actually made this chapter longer than I intended, oh well, I am not complaining. As always, please leave a review and tell me what I am doing great and/ or terribly, just no flame. Until next time, have a great life.


	11. Aftershocks

Act I will soon be brought to a close and Act II, Vengeance, will start. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the last two chapters. So, shall we kick this on off?

Once again, please go vote in my poll. It will take you two minutes to Google the Arkbird, read about it, and vote.

Also, time might be a little jumpy again.

Finally, I figured it would be for the best if I actually explained the speech stuff.

Human speech "Example" – Everyone can understand

Pokémon speech "Example" – Only Pokémon can understand

Telepathy _"Example"_ – Everyone can understand, but might be restricted in who can hear it. It will be uncommon for telepathy to be restricted but it might at certain times.

* * *

Act I: Revelation

Chapter 11: Aftershocks

The sun rose over Oured a few hours after the fighting had ended. It was a bittersweet sunrise as many of the skyscrapers that reflected its morning rays lay sideways or were nothing more than piles of rubble. Trails of smoke still lingered in the sky from the previous night's engagement, casting a grim reminder of the shattered peace. Across the nation, flags were at half-staff in remembrance of those who died in the fighting. Every TV across the country was tuned to the national news networks as details continued to come to light about the Belkan raid.

"While the damage to the city from a distance appears to be heavy, major damage was confined to the downtown areas. This is thanks to war hero General Ryan, who organized a last minute defense of the city. Osean military causalities are estimated to be around two thousand killed and another one thousand wounded. Most of these casualties are from cruise missiles that struck both the marine and air base the surround Oured. In addition, an estimated five hundred civilians were killed during the battle, most of which were at the airport where the fighting first broke out. The Belkan force was estimated to be in between nine hundred and eleven hundred strong which about half of which surrendered after marine elements began to counter attack.

"President Jackson announced that there would be a ceremony later today to honor those who fought to defend the capital last night. He also called for a day of national mourning to remember those who died in the line of fire defending our country."

Marshal turned off the TV and turned around to face Hopper who was standing in the back of the room. Despite the failure to destroy the industrial and capital districts of the city, he considered the mission somewhat of a success.

"We may not have gotten to destroy everything we wished, but we certainly made them pay for that with their lives." Marshal said in a rather devious tone. "A three to one causality ratio isn't bad. Anyway, what happened? I thought we had achieved total surprise." Hopper gave a loud grunt at that last part.

"We did not achieve surprise, that's what happened. I estimate that there were at least four battalions with armor and air support in the city when we started our advance. We were simply outnumbered and worn down by constant ambushes." Hopper recounted the previous night and all its frustrations. "I would have completed my objective had something not got in the way, literally."

"What do you mean?" Marshal inquired.

"Lucario blocked the attack that would have destroyed the capitol building. He then proceeded to defeat the two Pokémon that Hamilton gave me and destroy the rest of my force. He also had that small black and red fox with him."

"Hmm, interesting, why don't you see if Hamilton can come over here and work on finding their dimension as well as answer some more questions."

"Yes sir, I'll start on that right now." Hopper replied with a salute before departing the room.

Lucario and Zorua stayed with the marines next to the capitol building, helping keep an eye on the Belkan prisoners. Captain Johnson explained to the reinforcements how Lucario was not a threat and had helped defend the city when they arrived. That did not stop many of the marines from casting him and Zorua wary glances whenever they walked by. The two simply shrugged it off, each somewhat used to being viewed as an outsider.

They were currently walking beside the long column of prisoners as they made their way toward the marine base, making sure that none of them escaped as they marched down the highway. None tried to escape after Lucario subdued the first runner by full body tackling the guy then using Physic to force him back in line.

By the time the group reached the base, word on Lucario had already spread around most of the base. Some were grateful to have the powerful juggernaut fighting with them while others were less than pleased to be working with a freak from another dimension. Still, almost everyone was grateful for his assistance and left him and his friend alone even if they didn't enjoy his company.

General Ryan made sure that Lucario and Zorua had a room to themselves so they would not be bothered. It wasn't much, just a standard officer's room with a bed, couch, small table, and a TV, plus a window. Needless to say Lucario was glad for the privacy, still not too happy being around humans. Zorua was also glad to finally get some time where she could rest without the fear of having to walk miles upon waking up or being hunted down. However, she was also looking forward to spending more time with Lucario, trying find out more about his past. Lucario was resting on the couch when she approached him.

"Hey Lucario, I was wondering if you would mind telling more me about your past." Zorua asked nervously.

Lucario slowly opened one of his eyes and looked down off the couch at Zorua before letting out a sigh and sitting up.

"I guess I said I would tell you more didn't I." Lucario said in a slightly annoyed but acknowledging voice. "Well, what do you want to hear about?"

"Well, how about your time in captivity?"

"I would rather not, but I said I would and I guess don't have anything to lose by sharing." Lucario sighed. "I guess I will start with my first days in captivity. It was a very rude awakening for me, to have all your freedom stripped from you and forced to endure painful experiments.

"The first group that held me deprived me food, water, light, and other basics of life. I believe they did this to try and break me; unfortunately, they succeeded. I lost my will to fight and gain my freedom in less than a month of losing everything I held dear to me. Those were the darkest days of my life; I felt like a dumb brute, doing as I was told without question or struggle."

Lucario stood up and walked over to look out the window, recollecting the painful memories that continued to haunt him. He let out a loud, audible sigh before turning back toward Zorua continuing his tragic story.

"It wasn't until they ended my solitary confinement that I found inspiration to fight back. After seeing all the other Pokémon being held in inhospitable conditions, I resolved to help them in every way possible. One other Pokémon, a Scyther, also shared my goals. At least, so I thought; had I known his true intensions, I would have killed him then. He only reinforced my belief that I could trust no one." Lucario said, anger flaring in his voice. "He conned me and the others to secure his own escape, selling us out for his own freedom. My punishment for trying to escape was to be sold to an illegal Pokémon fighting ring.

"I could have become a legend there; most of my opponents were pitifully weak, but I let them win by refusing to fight. This did not please my new owners who apparently paid a fortune for me. They made my life I living hell; they beat me repeatedly while I was chained up so I could not retaliate. My disciplinarian also thought they could break me by starving me by feeding me nothing but scraps, barely keeping me alive. However, I would not bend, not again. Eventually they got fed up with me and sold me off to some other research group.

"They were pretty much the same as the first, painful experiments, torture and punishment for being disobedient or trying to escape, which I did quite frequently. When they finished or gave up on their research, they traded me off with Alpha, the people who captured you."

Zorua, who had been listening intently throughout Lucario's story, shuddered when he mentioned the people who had captured her. This did not escape Lucario's attention as he sat back down on the couch.

"So, what did they do to you, I thought you said you had only been there a short time." Lucario asked suspiciously.

"Yes, I was only there for a short time, but they still hooked me up to this machine." Zorua started, her voice quavering ever so slightly. "It was extremely painful and lasted a long time. When it was done, I felt like I knew at least twenty new attacks or moves. I figured that the machine was responsible for this."

"I remember that machine." Lucario said in a low sorrowful voice. "It was painful even by my standards."

"That was another reason why I was so reluctant to fight against you. I feared that I wouldn't be able to control these new attacks. This combined with my own unnatural strength was what convinced me I would only hurt myself or others by fighting."

"So you were willing to fight last night because you got over these fears." Lucario said in a slightly proud voice as Zorua nodded in response. "Good to know, one less fear for you to have; I am proud of you for this." Lucario smiled at patted Zorua on the head before turning his face back to its normal indifference and looking at the ceiling. "Now, I need to meditate. Could you wait outside the door and make sure no one bothers me. I need to make sense of some information I gathered last night."

"Umm, sure I guess." Zorua replied. She and Lucario walked over to the door at he let her out before going back and sitting down on the floor and taking up his mediating position.

Johnson and Ryan were in Ryan's office going through a sort of debriefing. Things were getting more and more complicated as the rumors surrounding Lucario started circulating farther and farther.

"Needless to say, the President is less than enthused." Ryan said in a low voice. "He has been breathing down my neck all morning about this whole scenario. That man cannot get it through his thick skull that Lucario is trying to help us."

"Well, he didn't necessarily make a great first impression." Johnson said with a small laugh; Ryan also chuckled at the remark.

"I guess you are right. Still, we need to figure out how to defuse this situation. Why don't you go talk with him and see if he can think of any solutions."

"Yes sir." Johnson replied before saluting and departing for the part of the building that held the officers rooms.

As Johnson turned down the hall that Lucario's room was on, he was surprised to see the small black and red fox lying down outside the door.

"Hmm, never did ask Lucario about that fox thing." Johnson thought. "Wonder why it is sitting outside the door." He noticed that the fox like animal was watching him curiously as he approached the door. He was startled when it started growling at him as he reached to knock on the door. When Johnson looked back down at the fox, it was on its feet and glaring at him as it continued its low growl.

"Guess you don't want me to go in right now, huh." Johnson said, realizing what the fox was trying to communicate. The fox stopped its growling at this and laid back down, but continued to eye him suspiciously. "I might as well wait here then."

Johnson sat down against the wall next to the fox. He sat there without saying anything else but would occasionally glance down at the strange animal next to him. After a while, he started to feel rather awkward just sitting there in silence, even if he was just sitting next to some sort of animal.

"I guess I should thank you for your help last night. I don't know why you and Lucario decided to help us, but thanks. I doubt we would have won last night if it had not been for warning and help." Johnson saw that the fox was looking up at him now. "I don't even know what you are or what to call you. I am pretty sure you can understand me, but for all I know I could be talking to some dumb animal."

Johnson looked down at the black and red animal and noticed that it looked pissed off; moments later, a feminine voice exploded in his head.

"_I AM NOT SOME DUMB ANIMAL!"_

Johnson fell over from the unexpected outburst before looking back at the fox that had now turned its back to him. Shock over took him as he realized that the voice in his head had undoubtedly had come from the animal next to him.

"Okay, did not see that coming." Johnson said quietly. "I am sorry for calling you a dumb animal." The fox turned and looked at him with what appeared to be a confused look on its face.

"_Wait, you can, hear me?"_

"Yes, I can hear you."

The fox just stared at him dumbfounded for a few seconds before her voice exploded in his head again.

"_Yes! I finally learned how to use telepathy!"_ The fox screamed out in a joyous voice before running in circles.

"So, what exactly are you? I have been meaning to ask Lucario but kept forgetting to."

"_Oh, I am Zorua, master of illusions."_

"Master of illusions, what is that supposed to mean?" Johnson asked in a confused tone. His confusion was furthered when all Zorua did was jump in the air and become obscured in a purple light. However, his confusion instantly became astonishment as he found himself looking at himself. "Okay, I see what you mean by master of illusions now. So, none of this is real?"

"_Technically, no, but they are real enough to make you think that they are tangible."_

Before the captain could question further, the door open and Lucario came out of the room.

"_I need to see General Ryan immediately." _Lucario sent telepathically before turning toward Zorua. "We will talk about your new power later. Stay in the room for now, I will be back soon."

"Alright then, if you'll follow me, I will take you to his office. He sent me to talk to you actually."

"_I am well aware of that captain. I actually want to talk to the general about a solution I have found."_

"Really," Johnson asked surprised, "What is it?"

"_You will see soon enough."_

"Okay…." Johnson said slowing, looking down at white wolf beside him. The duo walked in silence for the remainder of the time. "Alright, we are here." He knocked on the door and entered the room. "Sir, Lucario says he has a solution to our problem."

"Well, that's good news." Ryan exclaimed, almost jumping to his feet in the process. "Well, let me hear it."

Ryan and Johnson heard out Lucario's plan and discussed its implications till about noon. All the base line details had been laid out as well as planning for any drastic actions that might take place during the Emergency Chief of Staff meeting.

"Well, I did not expect to have problem like this in the Chief Staff." Ryan said in a low voice. "And you are 100% certain about this?"

"_I know for a fact that I am correct."_ Lucario replied in a stern tone. _"Besides, you know that too many things went wrong with your cities defenses and systems. You just didn't know how high it was."_

"Yah, I guess you're right, but in the Chief Staff…."

"_Accept it."_ Lucario replied coldly. _"In the meantime, do you have a place Zorua and I can train? Somewhere open preferably."_

"There is a drill field out behind the building. Feel free to use it, just be ready to go in two hours."

"_Thanks, also don't panic if you hear any explosions. That will just be a result of our training."_

Lucario turned to the door and left before Ryan could object, leaving Ryan and Johnson standing in astonishment that Lucario had just left after saying not to panic about explosions.

"He's not very social is he?" Ryan asked, sitting back down in his chair.

"Not really, but I can't blame him. From what he has told me, he doesn't like humans very much. So we should be glad he is helping us at all."

"Hmm, interesting, did he say why?"

"Not really, just something about being hunted down and experimented on."

"Anyway, do you really believe what he just said?"

"Lucario hasn't led us astray yet. And personally, a lot did go wrong last night. Still, I can't believe that he is talking about the secretary of defense."

"Neither can I, however, it doesn't change that fact that it is most likely true." Ryan said, finally accepting the situation completely. "Also, go tell the Major General not to raise the alarms over any explosions. Don't need the whole base on alert over Lucario's training."

"Come on Zorua, we are going to train for a while." Lucario said as he entered their room. Zorua was just lazily lying on her back on the couch.

"Okay." Zorua sighed. "How long are we training for this time?"

"Till we physically cannot go on, so I hope you are rested. This one is for nothing more than building endurance."

Zorua groaned before getting up off her back and rolling off the couch then following Lucario out of the room. He led her out to a large, grass field that was behind the building. Each took up positions on opposing sides of the field.

"Okay, no restrictions. This will be the first of who knows how many battles. You win if you restrain your opponent or force them to concede. You get first move." Lucario finished with a smirk, taking up a battle stance.

Zorua immediately closed the distance between her and Lucario. Once she was within ten yards of her target, she stopped and used Incinerate. Sending a wave of fire toward Lucario, who quickly formed a shield to disperse the flames as they approached. Once the surge of fire ceased, Lucario reabsorbed the aura from the shield and charged at Zorua, bone staff in hand.

Zorua started storing up her crimson aura in her paws, lifting her front paws into the air. Lucario lunged at Zorua just as she brought her paws down and unleashed her Night Daze. Lucario struggled against the force of the blast, trying to bring his Bone Rush attack down on Zorua. However, despite his best efforts, Lucario found himself over whelmed by the force of the explosion. As a result, Lucario was flung into the air, forcing the aura Pokémon to do several flips to regain his balance. After Lucario finished his aerial acrobatics, he began charging up an Aura Sphere. As soon as he landed on the ground, he launched it with all his strength toward Zorua.

The small fox never had any time to react as the purple sphere closed the distance instantaneously. The attack exploded on contact, engulfing Zorua in a thick cloud of black smoke. The explosion reverberated throughout the entire base, garnering the attention of quite a few marines. Before long, there was a crowd of soldier observing the duel on the drill field, watching the two powerful animals attack each other. Eventually, the group of soldiers was split into two parties, each cheering for either Lucario or Zorua once her name became known. The mood on the base had drastically changed in only a short period of time, going from a somber, depressed mood to one full of excitement. As the fight continued, soldiers began placing bets, further increasing the excitement of the situation.

Lucario and Zorua continued their fight undisturbed by the crowd gathering around them. Each had already landed several powerful hits on the other, but neither would yield. Zorua once again attempted to use Incinerate and managed to score a partial hit, scorching one of Lucario's legs. This earned a roar of cheers from one side of the field as to two groups had taken up sides on different sides of the drill field. Lucario winced at the burn but continued toward Zorua, paw glowing in white energy. Zorua dodged the Force Palm only to be impacted by a kick from Lucario unburned foot. This earned a roar of support from Lucario's camp. Zorua attempted to get back up from the attack but found herself restrained by a familiar feeling staff on her back.

"I win." Lucario panted out between breaths.

"Fine, I concede." Zorua managed to gasp out between her gasps for air. Zorua's response was barely audible over the thunderous roar that had risen up from the sidelines.

"Now, shall we go again?" Lucario asked as be lifted his staff off the back of his opponent.

"I am not beaten yet." Zorua growled in reply, standing up and returning to her starting position. This earned yet another roar from the marines as Lucario also took up this position on the opposite side of the field.

Lucario began the skirmish by forming a handful of marble sized Aura Spheres and flinging them across the field, making an impenetrable wall of dust. Zorua found herself blinded by the dust cloud but prepared an Incinerate attack. After waiting for a few seconds, she fired it in all directions, hoping to score a hit. Once the dust cloud settled, she saw Lucario standing in the spot she last saw him, except this time he had a smirk across his face. Lucario started charging toward Zorua, once again storing energy in his paw. Zorua once again went to charge up an Incinerate attack; however, she found herself too exhausted to even start doing so. She simply stood still, unable to dodge the approaching attack.

Lucario's Force Palm scored a direct hit as he brought his paw down on Zorua's back, quite literally pounding her into the dirt. After the dust cleared, Zorua was revealed to be unconscious in a small crater. This once again earned a roar of applause from Lucario's supporters.

Off in the distance, General Ryan and Captain Johnson were monitoring the gathering. Both had smiles on their faces.

"Well, I would say that this has boosted morale some." Ryan observed from the continuing roar from the marines gathered around the field.

"Yes, I agree." Johnson replied. "It might also help gain Lucario and Zorua some respect among the troops."

"From the sounds of it, I would say that that is a very good possibility."

By now, the marines had started to disperse. Lucario was carrying his unconscious partner back into the building. A few of the marines were walking with him but soon went back to their brothers in arms.

"I'll go check and make sure they don't need anything." Johnson said.

"Sure thing, also, don't you stop by the medical ward and get some burn cream for Lucario, looks like his leg is slightly torched." Ryan replied as both of them entered the building.

Lucario opened the door before Johnson even had a chance to knock, startling the marine captain.

"_What can I do for you?"_ Lucario asked in a somewhat hospitable tone of voice, even though he already knew the reason for Johnson's visit.

"Nothing, just thought I would check up on you two. That seemed to be pretty brutal." Johnson replied

"_Yes, I guess you could call it that. Our bodies are built a lot tougher than your bodies, so we are usually fine. Zorua will wake up here in a few minutes; for the most part, both of us just need to rest for a while then we will be fine."_

"I see; I also brought some burn cream for your leg. Not sure if you need it though." Johnson said as he held out the bottle. Lucario looked at the bottle for a bit before reaching out and taking it.

"_It's no Rawst Berry, but I guess it will do."_ Lucario sighed. _"A Rawst Berry is a fruit from my dimension that heals burns in case you're wondering."_ Lucario added on after a brief scan of Johnson's mind.

"Well, that's all I came here to do. Guess I will see you in about an hour to head back down to the capital. Also, I would like to thank you for everything, your help last night and for raising the spirits of the marines that are left with your little battle."

With that Johnson departed, going back to some other part of the base. Lucario went over and sat on the couch next to Zorua, who was still unconscious. He inspected the tube of ointment that Johnson had given him before somewhat reluctantly squeezing some of the white gel onto his paw and applying it to his burnt leg. At first, it stung as he gently smoothed the gel out over all the burned area. After a few seconds of applying the ointment, the burning and stinging began to subside, replaced by a cool, soothing feeling. When Lucario finished applying the gel, he focused some aura into his paws and placed them over his leg, letting his aura engulf the wound. After a few seconds of this, he retracted his paws and dispersed the aura around them, leaving him with a perfectly healed leg.

"Hmm, burns are usually more persistent than this one and that was not a weak burn either." Lucario thought. "Maybe this human ointment does have some usefulness after all."

After a few more minutes passed, Zorua finally woke up, though she was still slightly dazed from the impact of Lucario's last Force Palm. She got up and shook off the dirt that had gathered on her fur. She then made her way over to the part of the room where Lucario was meditating; she thought about tackling him again but decided against it. One, her body still ached some. Two, Lucario appeared to be in deep thought right now. So, she decided to go lay down on the bed but was stopped halfway there as Lucario appeared in front of her, startling her slightly.

"Good to see that you're awake. How are you feeling?" Lucario asked causally.

"Sore, sore all over." Zorua replied. "No thanks to you. Was that entirely necessary?"

"Yes, yes it was." He replied cockily. "Everything we train for has a purpose. You just learned not to over exert yourself. I won the second battle the moment you agreed to a second round. Also, it will help build up your endurance and resistance to fighting type attacks."

"So you tricked me by asking if I wanted to go another round."

"That would be correct."

"You know there are sometimes I really hate you." Zorua mocked her mentor.

"Likewise," Lucario responded with a smirk across his face, "Now, do you want me to get rid of some of that soreness for you?"

"Yes please." Zorua sighed in defeat as she hopped up onto the bed. Lucario once again focused some aura into his paws and placed them on Zorua's back, allowing the aura to spread out across her entire body. Lucario continued this process for about a minute, allowing the aura to swirl about as it moved around the increasingly relaxed dark type.

"Then there are times like this where I am gratified to have met you." Zorua said in a relaxed tone.

"Wish I could say the same." Lucario replied as he dissipated the aura from his paws, continuing to mock his companion.

"Welcome Dr. Hamilton," General Marshal yelled out over the weakening roar of the jet turbines, "I am General Marshal. It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

"It is an honor to meet you Marshal." Hamilton replied as they shook hands. "Truthfully, I wasn't expecting a visit for at least another day from what Hopper told me."

"Well, we thought we would let you work on finding your dimension. So, if you will follow me, I will take you to the main computer room."

"Alright, I am glad Hopper told me why I was coming, would be hard to do this without the proper data." Hamilton said as the small group walked into a nearby building. After proceeding down a series of hallways, they arrived in a large room with a massive super computer.

"This computer should be sufficient for your work." Marshal said as they approached the terminal. "So, what exactly do you need to do?"

"Truthfully, all the data and commands are on this disk." Hamilton replied as he took a small disk out of his coat pocket. "You can scan it if you wish, but I can assure you that it has nothing but data and the commands for it."

"I see, still, can't hurt to make sure." Hopper said, taking the disk and placing it in a nearby drive. After a few minutes the scan was completed and showed that there were no viruses on the disk. Immediately, it began to run the programs stored on the disk.

"Alright, within a few hours we should have the location of my dimension, if everything works out."

General Ryan, Captain Johnson, Lucario, and Zorua were walking down hallway of the capitol building to the Chief Staff meeting room, which had already had its doors replaced. Needless to say, this was attracting the attention of everyone they passed. When they entered the large room, nearly everyone inside stood up and took a few steps back, not expecting to see the being that had just recently broke into said room.

"General Ryan, I demand an explanation for this!" President Jackson nearly screamed out, anger very evident in his voice.

"Lucario wishes to help us." Ryan replied bluntly. "If it had not been for him, this building would have been reduced to a pile of rubble. Feel free to check the security footage and see for yourselves. So, considering his help in defending the city, I think you should hear out what he has to say."

"Very well," Jackson growled out, sitting back down in his chair, "Lucario may disclose what he wishes."

"_Thank you,"_ Lucario started, doing a quick bow in the process, _"First, I would like to apologize for my intrusion yesterday. I do not normally resort to force against those who don't deserve it. Second, what General Ryan says is true. I am here to offer my assistance."_

"And what can you do for us?" One of the generals in the room interrupted.

"_Simple, I can expose the Belkan spy that made last night's attack possible. As I have gathered, several places in your city were infiltrated and sabotaged, crippling your capital defense network. And this spy is also in attendance of this conference."_

"You're telling me, that one of the Chief of Staffs is a Belkan spy." Jackson slowly said. "That is preposterous."

"Sir, as unlikely as it sounds, Captain Johnson and I believe him. In order to gain access to all the locations infiltrated you would need clearance from the highest levels." Ryan boldly stated.

"Alright then, who is the spy then?" The President asked mockingly.

"_Secretary of Defense Decker is your spy."_ Lucario stated while pointing at a man across the room.

"This accusation is ridicules. You cannot believe such a bold face lie." Decker exclaimed a few seconds later in a calm tone. "Besides, where would you even pick up such a ridiculous rumor?"

"_Simple, the commander of the Belkan force told me last night."_

"That's a pretty tall lie. You expect me to believe that Lieutenant Hopper of the Belkan Army told you that? I would love to hear how you made him tell you that."

"_That is a story for another time. But, please do tell me how you knew who was commanding the Belkan force last night. To my knowledge, no one else here knew that and I haven't told anyone."_

Decker immediately stopped and stared at Lucario, who had remained calm throughout Decker's counter attacks. Everyone in the room was looking at him with shocked expressions on their faces. He had provided the proof for his own condemnation. President Jackson stood up at the end of the table, his shock turning to anger.

"MPs, arrest Secretary of Defense Decker for treason and spying for an enemy power!" Jackson ordered. Decker didn't resist; he was too shocked to realize that he had been tricked into giving himself away. Only when the MPs grabbed him did he move again, and that was as he was dragged out of the room.

After this, Lucario gained full support from everyone in the room, including the President. The meeting continued for only a little while longer as Decker's arrest interrupted much of the meeting itself. After this, everyone in the room, including Lucario and Zorua, preceded to the steps of the capitol building for the ceremony honoring the defenders of the city. Needless to say, once the reports saw Lucario and Zorua with the Chief Staffs, things got hectic. It took a good ten minutes of answering the same questions and trying to calm the rambunctious group down before Jackson could deliver his speech.

His speech was long, patriotic, and honoring. Lucario could see everyone was listening intently to what the man a few people to his right was saying. It was not toward the end of the speech that Jackson brought up him and Zorua, saying that new allies had been made, despite original speculations. Jackson continued his speech, but Lucario started to let his mind go elsewhere. Namely the details on the Orion base that he had gathered from Hopper, planning what to do once he got there.

The computer stated beeping and flashing two location on the main screen, one a bluish color, the other a pinkish one, labeling the pink on as Palkia's dimension and the blue one as Dialga's dimension.

"So, your program works after all." Marshal commented.

"It would appear so." Hamilton replied. "I'll leave it here with you in case you need it again for your research on opening a portal back to my dimension, which should be located in the middle of those two."

"If you don't mind me asking, what are those two dimensions?" Hopper inquired.

"They are two of the four dimensions that are part of my dimension. The other is what is called the reverse world. Each of these three is governed by a legendary Pokémon, Palkia governs the dimension of space, Dialga governs time, and Giratina governs dimensions and the reverse world."

"What are legendary Pokémon?" Hopper inquired.

"Pokémon of untold strength, they are sought after by everyone. They also carry a significant amount of power in or world. If you could control even one of the many legendries, you would be nearly unstoppable. But doing so is nearly impossible. Not once has one been controlled long enough to use its full power."

"Wow, are they really that powerful?" Marshal asked awestruck.

"Yes."

"Well, thank you for the knowledge. We will continue our research, I have also arranged for more dimensional technology to be sent back with you. I hope you will find it useful."

* * *

Done, and I just set a record for longest thing I have ever written in my life. Well, I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. School will be wrapping up soon and hopefully I will be able to put out updates quicker. Anyway, till next time.


	12. Demons and Legends

I actually have some news this time. I will be starting two new things this chapter and one new thing next chapter. These are thing I have seen other authors here do and I figured it wouldn't hurt if I have it a try. First, I will start talking to my characters. This has a few reasons behind it. One, seen other authors do it. Two, it looks like fun. Three, it might help develop the characters.

Second, I will be changing up how I do thoughts. From now on, thoughts will be displayed as such: _'why are you in my mind?'_

Next chapter I will start adding in songs at certain points. This is something I have seen others do and I cannot see how it could hurt. You don't have to listen to them if you don't want to. Hopefully the songs will help set the mood per se.

Finally, I have added a section on my profile dedicated to providing details about this story. It includes setting, characters, and all the military hardware I have used as well as details on other plot elements. If you would like me to add anything to this area, please tell me and I will be more than happy to.

Once again, poll, please vote.

Actually have to do another disclaimer. I see no point in doing it more than once, but I am introducing some more stuff that isn't mine.

**Disclaimer: I do not own any ideas relating to **_**The Demon of Razgriz,**__**A Blue Dove for the Princess, **_**or any of the Strangereal countries. All of these go to Namco and Project Aces.**

* * *

Lucario: Well, you finally decided to talk to us.

Osean: Yep.

Zorua: Bout time, you know what it's like to have to depend on Mr. antisocial here for conversations. I could get more out of a brick wall.

Lucario: Not my fault, blame the guy who made me. Speaking of which, what the hell did you do to me?! *Looks angrily at Osean*

Zorua: Good point. *Stares at Osean*

Osean: Uh, I don't like where this is going. *Leaves*

Lucario: He has to come back eventually.

Zorua: Then what?

Lucario: I don't know, we will think of something.

* * *

Act I: Revelation

Chapter 12: Demons and Legends

The black jet transport proceeded swiftly through the darkening sky. Only four men were on board the heavily loaded transport, the two pilots, Hamilton, and Hopper. The two leaders were discussing more information on Pokémon in the packed transport bay.

"Hmm, so what did end up happening to the two Pokémon I gave to you?" Hamilton asked, curious at what the man next to him had done with them. "I hope they live up to your expectations."

"They did a great job at destroying buildings as I had hoped, however, they were beaten by two other Pokémon that have been making the news lately," Hopper relied coldly, still somewhat sore over his defeat by two.

"Ah yes, Lucario and Zorua. We have been trying to recapture them. Especially Lucario, we have invested far too much in him to let him roam free."

"What do you mean?"

"Lucario is the first and only Pokémon hybrid, a perfect blend of two different Pokémon." Hamilton proudly claimed. "However, he escaped before we could study him further. That, I might add, was because of your interference."

"Well, you have my deepest apologies. Together I am sure we can get him back under control. Though this might be difficult as it appears the two have allied themselves with the Osean military."

"In time, we will recover what is ours, no matter the cost. Not even the Osean military will be able to stop our combined strength."

* * *

Lucario and Zorua were resting in their room after returning from the ceremonies in the capital. Lucario had just finished tutoring Zorua about her telepathic abilities. Each was looking forward to finally get a good night's sleep. Zorua tried to call dibs on the bed but Lucario vetoed that notion for two reasons. One, he is taller. Two, he won their fight. Zorua retaliate with being a girl, she deserved the bed and that he had no manners. The two Pokémon were soon face to face with low growls escaping their throats when they were interrupted by a knock at the door. Lucario let out a sigh as he walked over to answer while Zorua made herself comfy in the room's only bed. Lucario opened the door to find Captain Johnson standing there with a slightly confused look on his face.

"I'm not disturbing anything am I?" Johnson asked thinking he had heard what sounded like growling coming from inside the room.

"_No, just a small argument,"_ Lucario replied calmly, _"It's over now."_

"Anyway, there is another meeting tomorrow and your presence has been requested."

"_When do we leave?"_

"At 1000 hours, I will come get you when it's time to go, just be ready by then."

"_Not like I really have anything to take with me," _Lucario replied with a small laugh. His backpack was no longer needed, plus it was burnt to a crisp the previous night.

"Good point," Johnson replied with a small laugh as well. "Well, that's all I had to tell you."

"_Before you go, can you tell me what the meeting is over?"_ Lucario inquired, too tired to scan the soldier's mind.

"To my knowledge it is going to be for developing plans for a strike to shut down the Orion Base. That's all I know. Why do you want to know?"

"_I am going to see if I can come up with the information I gathered."_

"Alright, well I will see you tomorrow, congrats on the medal by the way. It's the highest award possible to receive for anyone," Johnson said, seeing the medal lying in its case on the table. After that comment, the marine captain left as Lucario closed the door and looked at the medal he had received at the ceremony earlier in the day. It had been a last minute presentation that caught Lucario off guard due to the fact he wasn't focused on the ceremony itself.

Lucario admired the silver medal for a bit longer. 'The Order of the Razgriz' ran along the top edges of the circular medal. Below that was an image of a woman in medieval armor and 'Demon of Razgriz' was written along the bottom half of the medal. The medal was attached to a ribbon with black edges and a red stripe running down the center.

Lucario was interested as to why it said 'Demon of Razgriz.' Curious as to why this supposedly top honor was adorned by a demon.

'_A question for another time,' _Lucario thought as he lied down on the couch, tired from the previous night's fighting. His last thoughts before drifting to sleep were planning his revenge on Zorua for taking the bed.

* * *

The sleek, black jet took off into the night sky after unloading its cargo at the Alpha facility. Hamilton walked back into the main building as Chief Engineer Roberts monitored over the transporting of the newly acquired equipment. He had told him to inspect the boxes and have a report on the equipment's purposes and uses delivered to his office in no less than ninety minutes. Hamilton returned to his office with a small book Hopper had given him before he disembarked from the transport plane, apparently it is a rather popular story book in this dimension.

Hamilton arrived in his office and sat down in his chair behind his desk before looking down at the small book. It was titled _A Blue Dove for the Princess_ and did not appear to be that long of a book. He let out a sigh before opening it to the first page and started reading. After about an hour, Hamilton reached the back of the book. It was a small fairy tale type story that followed a blue dove as it tried to save the princess that had saved his life. He was about to close the book when a piece of paper fell out of the back cover onto his desk. 'Hope you enjoyed the story, it may seem a bit childish to you but I figured I would share it anyway. If anything you can publish it back in your dimension for some extra cash. Hopper'

Hamilton put the note back in the book and stored the small book in his desk drawer. Soon afterward there was a knock at his door and his top scientist entered with two small folders.

"Ah Roberts, what have you figured out about our new technology?" Hamilton asked with a large grin covering his face.

"We haven't had time to test most of it yet, but we did read through the information packets that came with them. There are two items that I believe you will be most interested with," Roberts replied before handing over one of the small folders. "The first is the sonic cannons we acquired a few days ago. This is the only thing we have been able to run extensive tests on. We ran several different tests on different Pokémon as well as several guards who volunteered. Most were knocked out in a few seconds, even Pokémon without visible ears affected but to a lesser degree."

"How effective do you believe these will be in recapturing Lucario and Zorua?"

"Test results show that the sonic cannons will prove highly effective in doing just that. Also, the second devise could prove useful after Lucario is back in our possession," Roberts said as he handed over the second folder. When Hamilton saw the details that were on the enclosed pages, he knew that they would have their ultimate weapon under full control.

* * *

Zorua awoke the next morning with a small headache and felt slightly light headed. She slowly opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. The first thing she saw was Lucario meditating upside down on the ceiling. As soon as that sight was processed in her brain her eyes snapped open.

'_Wait, why is Lucario on the ceiling?'_ Zorua thought to herself. Then she saw that the couch and table were also on the ceiling. Then it hit her, she was on the ceiling along with the entire bed, not Lucario.

"LUCARIO, WHY AM I ON THE CEILING?" Zorua yelled out, anger very evident in her voice. Lucario only opened one eye and glanced at the angry fox above him before giving a small laugh.

"You took the bed, this is my payback," Lucario replied, continuing to laugh at the way Zorua was struggling against the physic hold he had on the blanket.

"LET ME DOWN!"

"If you say so," Lucario retorted with a chuckle as he completely released his mental hold on the bed sheets. Without the physic force holding the angry fox Pokémon up, gravity soon took over and pulled her down. She landed with a loud _thud_ on the carpeted floor. However, she was only dazed for a second before standing up and glaring at Lucario, who was still meditating but had a definite smirk on his canine face. Before Zorua could retaliate, Lucario release his physic hold on the bed's mattress. A second later, Zorua found herself pinned under the mattress she had just recently been sleeping on. _'Three, two, one,'_ Lucario counted down in his head. Right when he reached one, the mattress was launched into the air by a wave of red aura, revealing one pissed off Pokémon. Zorua glared at Lucario with murder in her eyes. It was almost enough for Lucario to be intimidated, and it had been awhile sense he felt threatened by anything.

Zorua lunged at Lucario with every intent on maiming the nearby Aura Pokémon into an unrecognizable pulp. Lucario didn't move a muscle as he continued his meditation as if nothing was happening. As Zorua was about to slam into her target, she bounced off a purple shield that appeared before her then dissipated into thin air. She growled and lunged at Lucario again only to have the same results. Lucario smirked as his helpless partner desperately tried to pierce his aura shield. This continued for most of the morning, Lucario peacefully meditating inside his shield while his blood thirsty partner tried to rip his guts out. Zorua eventually succumbed to exhaustion after throwing herself at Lucario and his shield for well over an hour. Defeated, she used her last remaining strength to get up on the couch before letting her legs give way. A few seconds later, Lucario could hear the steady rhythm of her breath as she fell asleep.

'_Well, that should take care of training for the day,'_ Lucario thought to himself, happy that he managed to kill two Swellows with one stone. He went back to his thoughts, dividing and interpreting the information he had gathered from the Belkan commander's head. After another half hour of meditating, Lucario was interrupted by a knock at the door, pulling him back to reality. He let out a small sigh as he stood and went to answer the door, already well aware of whom it was and the reason he was here. Lucario opened the door to probably one of the few humans he actually trusted, Captain Johnson.

"It's time to go," the marine captain said plainly before switching to a tone that showed some interest. "So, did you manage to come out with anything?"

"_Quite a bit actually,"_ Lucario replied confidently while extending an arm toward his sleeping partner and enveloping her in a sphere of aura and pulling it towards himself. Johnson raised an eyebrow at the odd sight before questioning the white canine in front of him.

"What's with the purple orb? Why not just carry her?"

"_Let's just say she is a little mad at me. This way she still comes with and I don't have to worry about my face being torn to shreds,"_ Lucario replied somewhat sarcastically as they walked down the halls, the purple sphere floating beside Lucario.

"Doesn't have to do with a small argument that is supposed to be over does it?" Johnson asked mockingly, remembering what Lucario had said the previous night.

"_Eh, call it a brief extension do to certain unexpected actions by myself."_

"I don't even want to know," Johnson replied in a low voice shaking his head. "So, what did you come up with?"

"_You will find out soon enough. I don't like saying things more than once."_

Johnson only nodded in response, slightly annoyed at the animal's reclusiveness. The group made their way toward the base's airfield, preparing to take a helicopter to the capitol building. Lucario broke the silence after a few minutes.

"_If you don't mind, I do have a question for you,"_ Lucario said plainly.

"Ask away," Johnson replied as he, Lucario, the unconscious Zorua boarded a Blackhawk helicopter.

"_What is the Demon of Razgriz?"_

"The Demon of Razgriz is a powerful entity from an old legend," the marine captain replied as Lucario awkwardly put ear protection on himself and Zorua. Shortly after, the helicopter took off and headed toward the capitol building. "As the story goes, she came upon the land and used her powers to wreak havoc and destroy much of the land and surrounding kingdom. However, she is eventually killed by a united people. Shortly after Razgriz is killed, the people turn on one another in a brutal and bloody war which awakens Razgriz from death. This time, she uses her powers to end the war and bring prosperity back to the land."

"_So the Demon of Razgriz was evil at first then a hero in the end?"_ Lucario asked with trace amounts of confusion in his voice. _"So because in the end she is a hero, that is why she is on your country's highest medal?"_

"Yes, that is the general basis behind the Order of the Razgriz," Johnson replied before letting out a small laugh. This caused Lucario to raise an eyebrow and look at the marine questioningly.

"_What's so funny?"_ Lucario asked with a slight amount of annoyance audible in his voice.

"Well, it's kind of ironic actually. When we first started getting information on you, it wasn't giving you the best image. Most of the higher ups viewed you as a threat to national security. You pretty much solidified their assumptions when you crashed the Chief of Staff meeting a few days ago. Now, you're pretty much a hero in the eyes of these same people. You are practically a living Razgriz."

"_Only one problem with that,"_ Lucario replied bluntly, _"Most of the people you take orders from still view me with hate and disgust. They can put on a smile and give me a medal but down under they still view me with disdain."_

Johnson remained silent for a bit before replying.

"How do you know? I understand you don't trust or like humans that much, but how do…." He stopped mid-sentence recalling that Lucario could read minds. "You read their minds didn't you?" He stated rather quickly, rubbing his forehead under his helmet with his gloved hand.

"_Not entirely, my species is also capable of sensing emotions from those nearby. It didn't take much effort to pick up on the hatred those men were emitting. But, I do see the irony behind what you were saying."_

Their conversation abruptly ended when Zorua unleashed an Incinerate at Lucario shield, startling the two passengers.

"Lucario, why am I in an orb? And where are we? AND WHY DO I KEEP WAKING UP IN THESE WEIRD SITUATIONS!" Zorua yelled out. Lucario only tapped the ear protection he was wearing before replying.

"_Didn't hear a word of that,"_ Lucario replied in a pompous tone, only angering the fox Pokémon further.

"_I said, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!"_ Zorua yelled out into Lucario's mind in a furious tone.

"_Well, we are on our way to the capitol building again for another meeting. And you are in that orb because it is a safe way to carry you around and keep my face intact."_

"_Well, LET ME OUT!"_

"_Only if you promise to calm down," _Lucario replied with a smirk across his face, enjoying torturing his angry companion.

"_Fine,"_ Zorua curtly replied, _"But I will get you back for this."_

Captain Johnson was just shaking his head grumbling about crazy animals as the two Pokémon finished their bickering. A few minutes later, the Blackhawk set down on the street in front of the capitol building. Most of the city was closed off due to battle damage and security reasons. Troops were still deployed around the capital district and at various check points surrounding and inside the city. Johnson, Lucario, and Zorua disembarked from the Blackhawk and made their way into the capitol building. After navigating through the hallways, they arrived at the meeting room.

General Ryan was already in the room getting everything set up as people continued to file into the room. Lucario walked over to a corner of the room and leaned against the wall while Zorua laid down next to his feet. Various Chief Staffs continued to enter the room, some taking notice and others failing to notice of the duo. Lucario felt a spike of disgust from most that noticed him. He just waved it off; they couldn't do anything against and would be foolish for them to try. The last of the attendees took their seats and the lights dimmed slightly.

"Alright, you all know the purpose of this meeting," General Ryan started, "Satellite reconnaissance has confirmed the presence of Belkan units in the Orion facility and surrounding terrain. The base was originally designed to hold around five thousand personnel; however, photos show that additional barracks have been constructed above ground and there is the possibility that additional areas were expanded underground as well. Strength estimates range from fifteen thousand to twenty five thousand personnel plus an unknown number of advanced fighting vehicles and aircraft."

"I can have the 112th Infantry Division and the 1st Armored Division mobilized in under a week," another general said, "That would give us a total of thirty thousand troops plus over a hundred armored vehicles and fifty attack helicopters."

"Our fighters and bombers can easily provide air support for the ground forces as they advance on the facility," an air force general added. "We can also use our B-2 stealth bombers to take out key parts of the base whenever we need."

Everyone in the room jumped slightly at the laughing in their heads as Lucario stepped forward, his purple eyes slightly glowing in the darkened room, from is spot on the wall shaking his head. Some of the generals in the room had forgotten he was even there, only adding to their distress.

"_That's a nice plan. Too bad the Belkans have already planned against just that kind of attack,"_ Lucario boldly claimed. _"If you were to do that, I can guarantee that you would take heavy losses and fail to drive the Belkans out."_

"And just how do you know that?" The army general that spoke before yelled out, not happy that his plan was being laughed at.

"_I already told you that I can read minds. I gathered every little secret I could from the man commanding the attack on this city,"_ Lucario said calmly as he walked up to the front of the room where a map of the facility was being projected. _"For instance, they have added enough room to house twenty five thousand troops. Luckily, there are currently only nineteen thousand troops stationed there. There are also one hundred and thirty of their hover tanks plus sixty fighter jets. Base defenses include rail guns and machine gun nests camouflaged around the perimeter as well as air defense missiles inside the perimeter."_ Lucario had picked up a marker and had been marking the locations of the various changes to the base while he was talking. _"They have also moved major components of the base around to reduce the chance of them being hit by bunker busting bombs dropped from stealth planes, which they still have not found a counter for."_

Everyone in the room watched dumbfounded as Lucario explained and drew out the modifications without leaving a single detail. When he finished, no one said a word, still trying to absorb the large amount of information that they had learned. The army general finally broke the silence, still amazed at the comprehensive map in front of him.

"So, do you have a plan or just a detailed map?" He asked rather roughly, recovering from his previous shock.

"_As a matter of a fact, I do. A large scale, frontal attack will easily be beaten back with the base in its current state. I suggest that you drop in myself, my partner, and three soldiers of my choosing to sabotage and cripple the base. In order to keep the base personnel busy while we do our mission, have your stealth bombers target the key parts of the base that can be hurt. After we complete our mission, you can have your army move in and finish off what we started."_

"And how do you expect us to air drop you in unnoticed?" The air force general spoke up. "And you to you expect to accomplish your mission with five people unnoticed?"

"_First, you use one of those captured advanced transport planes that you recovered from the airport. Second, you underestimate our abilities. My partner and I can lead us through the base unnoticed easily."_ Lucario replied with his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the wall at the front of the room. Once again, everyone in the room remained silent as they thought about Lucario's plan. General Ryan was the first to speak up this time.

"I say we give it a shot. His plan seems rather thought out and the risks are low if it does fail."

Lucario returned to his corner next to Zorua as the head generals debate his plan. This continued for about another forty minutes as Lucario either meditated or made small talk with Zorua.

"Alright, I approve of Lucario's plan. General Ogden, begin mobilizing the 1st and 112th divisions. We launch Operation Guardian in one week." President Jackson ordered confidently.

* * *

"General Marshal, our top mole in the Osean Government failed to check in last night," a soldier reported. General Marshal only let out a low sigh before replying.

"It was bound to happen eventually, I guess he got found out in an investigation that followed our attack," he replied in a tired voice.

"Maybe he just didn't have a chance to call in."

"While that is a possibility, he did play a large role in our attack and it would not be too hard to trace the details back to him. So I am forced to assume the worst," Marshal said with a sigh. "Also, order our scouts around McNealy Air Force Base to be on alert for B-2's taking off. If we know they are coming we might be able to prevent extensive damage to the base."

"Yes sir!"

* * *

Lucario and Zorua arrived back at their room by midafternoon. Zorua was and had been bored out of her mind for the past few hours. She had just lain down on the couch when see noticed Lucario was already heading to the door.

"Where are you going?" She asked curiously.

"I need to go train," Lucario replied in a serious voice, turning his head toward Zorua. "And no, you cannot come. I need some time to train alone. I will be back after dark." With that, he exited the room and made his way towoard a familiar aura signature. After making his way outside the building he made his way over toward one of the bases hangers where several officers were inspecting the weapons stored inside. He quietly approached one of the marines before reaching up and tapping him on his shoulder. Captain Johnson turned around and looked down at the wolf like animal.

"I am busy right now Lucario," the marine captain said in a slightly annoyed voice.

"_I only need to borrow your combat knife for a second, and then I will be on my way_," Lucario replied sincerely. The soldier grabbed the knife off his combat jacket and handed it over. He was surprised when Lucario enveloped the knife in a purple light for a few seconds. After Lucario dispersed the light he handed it back to the startled captain. _"Thanks and I am sorry for my intrusion."_

Before Johnson could question the canine, he ran off at an inhuman speed and jumped over the perimeter fence. Shrugging it off, he returned to his work and would just figure out what Lucario was up to later.

Once Lucario was away from the base and into a wooded area, he stopped and decided to train in a small clearing. Once he was in the center of the clearing, he extended his paw out and concentrated on forming his aura into the shape of the combat knife. A few seconds later, the knife began to materialize in his paw, starting from the grip and making its way toward the tip of the blade. Lucario frowned moments later as the aura that made up the knife destabilized and imploded, creating a small flash of purple light. Undaunted, Lucario began the process again, focusing even more on the challenging task, only to have the same results. Scowling slightly, Lucario once again began the routine over again, intent on perfecting the skill. This continued for hours as the night sky was looming overhead when Lucario was finally satisfied with his work. The final product of his efforts was a combat knife that he could summon instantly and throw with deadly accuracy. However, he was unsure of his abilities to use the knife in close combat but his was not of this greatest concern because he could always rely on his Metal Claw attack.

Lucario nearly gave the soldier patrolling the perimeter fence a heart attack when he quietly landed in front of the marine. The startled soldier almost fired his M-4 at the white creature that landed ahead of him before he recognized the aura Pokémon.

"God dang it," the marine angrily shouted out as he lowered his rifle, "What the hell are you doing? No one is supposed to enter or leave the base past 2100 hours."

"_Well, obviously I am not familiar with your rules,"_ Lucario calmly replied, standing up from the crouched position he landed in.

"Ugh, I don't have time for this. Just return to your room and don't do this again."

Lucario didn't even reply as he ran off with a satisfied grin across his canine face. He entered his room to find Zorua already asleep on the couch. He was slightly surprised that she wasn't on the bed but shrugged it off. A few minutes later, he was face down on the bed asleep.

* * *

Osean: Is this *thud* really *thud* necessary? *thud*

Lucario & Zorua: Yes, yes it is. *As Lucario continues to use Physic to slam me against a wall*

Osean: Come on, *thud* what do you *thud* want from me?

Lucario: How about some answers, that seems like a good place to start. *Ceases his attack*

Osean: I can't tell you that without breaking the 4th wall. Trust me; you don't want that to happen.

Zorua: Well, that's too bad. I guess Lucario will just have to continue beating you until you fess up. *Smirks toward Lucario who resumes slamming me into a wall*

Osean: Oh come on! *thud*

* * *

Sorry about the long wait for this chapter, I apologize because there really wasn't any reason for me not writing other than I was reading a lot more than I was writing. On a slightly related topic, I recommend reading Mekon's _The Black Latios_. This story had me under its powers for about a week. Back on topic, I cannot even blame Finals because I only had to take one and it was open book. So, you have my deepest apologies for the delay.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please tell me what you think. I appreciate the reviews from GameManiac, Lupyne, and Rikkilucario7, and the few others that have dropped off one or two, but I would really appreciate it if more people I don't PM regularly would leave reviews. I know you are there, so please leave something, I honestly don't care it's short. Till next time, I wish you all the best of luck in our ever changing world. I will try to be more prompt with the next chapter. Almost to 1k views as well!

Also, I am going to rename Emerra due to its similarities to the Strangereal country of Emmeria. I am open for suggestions, so either leave it in a review or send me a PM.


	13. Unforeseen Developments

Hello and welcome back! Sorry for the delay but I promise you won't be disappointed. Not only is this chapter my longest, it is the finale for Act I. I am in a great mood because I just recently got my AP test scores back. I got a 5 on the AP Physics B test and a 4 on the AP US History test (the scores are out of 5). Getting a 5 on the AP Physics test is no laughing matter, as it is considered one of the hardest classes at my school, which is full of geniuses. The top 5% of the senior class last year were all National Merit Semi-Finalists. I'm not even in the top 10%, which sucks. Enough about me, you're not here to read about my life. So without further delay, here is Chapter 13!

Quick notes: bearing is like a compass with 000 being north, 090 is east, 180, is south, and 270 is west. You read it by the individual numbers, so 150 is not one hundred and fifty, its one-five-zero. I will most likely just have it written out like the latter instead of using numbers.

Also, this chapter is the start of me using songs. I will have them linked at the bottom of the Dimensional War part of my profile, or you can just search them up based on the information provided. You don't have to listen to them if you don't want to. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this addition!

Osean: Okay, now that I am no longer being maimed by my own character, I can get back to writing this FanFic for yall.

Zorua: What did you do to make Lucario stop? He kept that up for days.

Osean: That's a secret.

Zorua: Is there anything about him that isn't a secret?

Osean: Well….maybe?

Zorua: …Sometimes I really hate you.

Osean: I can deal with it.

* * *

Act I: Revelation

Chapter 13: Unforeseen Developments

Zorua woke to find Lucario still asleep on the bed. She smirked to herself as she thought of a plan to get back at Lucario for his stunt the previous morning. It was a rather simple plan that utilized her greatest skills. She went over to a corner of the room away from where Lucario was located and began creating illusions throughout the room. A mischievous grin spread across the fox Pokémon's face as she finished constructing the various fabrications. Now all she had to do was wait for Lucario to wake up. Zorua decided to accelerate in her partners waking with a small Incinerate blast right above his face.

Lucario awoke when not only sensed an attack, but when a wave of heat passed over his head. He leapt out of the bed and got into a battle stance but was soon confused when all he saw was darkness. He could feel solid ground under his feet and could see his body fine, but there was nothing else. No wind, no scents, and no light. That soon changed when he heard the sound of rushing water and his worst fear was confirmed as he felt water running over his feet. Soon he was struggling to keep his steel laden body afloat. Despite his best efforts, Lucario began to sink below the surface of the water. He took one final breath before slipping under the surface. As he continued to sink, he could only wonder what had happened. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep in his room. Soon, he felt a pain in his chest as if his lungs were going to explode. He couldn't hold on any longer as his body forced him to gasp for air.

He expected to feel his lungs fill with water before he drifted into the unknown, but it never happened. Instead, he continued to breathe normally despite the fact that he was underwater. Moments later he felt his head break the surface of the water as he instantly fell to his hands and knees breathing heavily. His ears perked up at the sound of faint laughing. The darkness around him began to dissolve in a red-purple wave. Once the distortions faded, he saw Zorua rolling on the floor laughing to the point she had tears in her eyes. It only took him a few seconds to put together what had happened. Once this realization hit him, he let out a low laugh and shook his head.

"It was all an illusion," Lucario said impressed with the illusion the fox Pokémon created. He stood up and walked over to where Zorua was trying to get ahold of herself. "Let me guess, that was payback for my little prank yesterday wasn't it?"

"That sounds about right," Zorua weakly said as she gasped for air. "Now we are even." After a few more minutes, she finally calmed down. "So, how did your training go last night?"

"Great actually," Lucario replied as he sat down on the couch. "I have gotten pretty good at a new skill."

"So, how long till you think you will have it master?" Zorua asked with a slightly curious tone as she hopped up onto the couch next to Lucario. A frown appeared across Lucario's face as he looked down at Zorua.

"One never masters anything," Lucario stated disapprovingly, "One can always improve no matter how good one is at something. Never forget that and I am sure that your power will surpass all those around you."

"Even you?" Zorua countered jokingly.

"Of course not," Lucario replied with a small laugh as he rubbed Zorua's head with his paw, messing up the scuff of fur on her head.

"So what skill did you train last night?"

"Aura shaping, forcing aura into a shape I desire and making it stable."

"Couldn't you already do that?" Zorua questioned slightly confused. "Isn't that what you do with aura spheres and that bone staff you make?"

"Both yes and no. Lucario's can easily form basic shapes with our aura, such as aura spheres, shields, and are staffs as you said. However, forming more complicated shapes takes intense training. Luckily for me, I am not your average Lucario," Lucario said with a smirk on his face before his jaw dropped slightly, not meaning to disclose that fact.

"Well duh, anyone can see that," Zorua replied with a snort. Lucario breathed a sigh of relief that Zorua thought he was referring to the results of the Alpha experiment. While he did trust the fox, he did not believe she was ready to learn of his most guarded secret. "So, what was the end result of your training?"

"This," Lucario said as he formed the knife in his paw and spun it around, "Is the end result."

"Okay, pardon me for being critical, but why do you need a knife? Can't you just use your metal claws?" Zorua said disparagingly.

"Last time I checked, I couldn't throw my metal claws," Lucario retorted. "We are going to need stealth when we infiltrate the Orion Base, and last time I checked aura spheres are not exactly quiet. Between the two of us, we should be able to avoid or remain hidden from most of the personnel on the base, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared if something goes awry."

"Good point," Zorua replied defeated. "So what are we going for the rest of today?"

"Take a guess," Lucario replied with a mischievous grin.

The devilish grin on Lucario's face was all it took for her to realize that he was intent on training her into the ground. The end result of which would most likely be her unconscious. However, she did value the harsh training Lucario put her through. She noticed that she could go farther, fight longer, and could maintain stronger illusions. She was surprised by how much she had improved as they had only been training together for a short time.

"Training," Zorua sighed out as she lowered her head down between her paws.

"Come on, it isn't that bad. You make a decent opponent despite your type disadvantage and I can sense that your strength is growing at an above average rate," Lucario said confidently to boost Zorua's morale. "Now let's go, we are burning daylight."

With that, the two Pokémon got up and left their room. They made their way toward the field that they had used two days ago. After a brief walk that included several quick chats with some passing marines, the duo made it to their destination. Each combatant made their way to opposite ends of the field. However, before their match could begin, a sharp whistle caught their attention. Lucario looked to the direction from where the whistle had come from to see Johnson jogging toward them. Lucario let out a small sigh knowing that he was about to be lectured. Zorua walked over to where Lucario was standing a laid down on the grass by his feet. A few seconds later, Johnson arrived with a disapproving look on his face.

"Okay, three things," the marine said sternly, "One, I know you aren't familiar with our rules, but make an effort not to get yourself killed. Two, you cannot fight on this field whenever you want. We cannot have this base go on high alert because you felt like training. Three, what did you use my knife for yesterday?"

"_Fine, I will make an effort to learn your silly rules while I am here,"_ Lucario replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes in the process. _"And I needed your knife as a base to form a knife of my own."_

"Thanks, I think. What do you mean by form a knife of your own?"

"_This,"_ Lucario replied as he formed the purplish knife in an outstretched paw. After allowing the marine to look at the newly formed knife, Lucario reabsorbed the aura back into his body.

**Bridge Assault, Homefront OST, Matthew Harwood**

**(Song start)**

"Impressive, but do you know how to use it?" Johnson asked in a superior tone of voice. Lucario easily picked up on the marine captain's challenge and a sly grin soon appeared across the canine's face.

"_How about a quick skirmish, no weapons, only hand to hand combat, I won't use any of my powers either. A pure test of skill,"_ Lucario countered.

"Challenging an Osean marine to a test of combat skill is never a good idea. We are the best of the best in the Osean military. You will eat that smirk before we finish here," Johnson replied with a smirk of his own as he struck a battle stance. Lucario instantly did the same, forming his own stance. Each took small steps toward the other until they were only a few steps apart, each glaring at the others eyes, trying to predict their next move.

Lucario struck first, sweeping his leg around to try to trip his adversary. Johnson barely avoided the attack by quickly stepping backward then countered by lunging forward and tackling Lucario, keeping the sharp chest spike in mind. The marine was surprised by the amount of resistance he encountered at his body impacted his target. He had expected to easily flatten his smaller adversary, but he just barely managed to force Lucario to the ground. Not only had it been harder than he expected, he also felt like he had tackled a brick wall. Despite these unexpected challenges, he had achieved his goal in getting Lucario onto the ground. He swiftly struck Lucario in his gut, attempting to knock the air out of him. Johnson then moved to put Lucario in a choke hold but instead found a sharp pain in his side as Lucario quickly punched the marine with enough force to knock him off. Lucario quickly jumped to his feet as the marine reeled from the attack. Johnson regained himself and attempted to stand back up but quickly found himself face down in the dirt again as Lucario swept his feet out from under him with a nimble kick. Before he could even attempt to get up this time, he felt Lucario's foot on his back, effectively pinning him down.

**(End song)**

"_I win,"_ Lucario said smugly, _"I must admit, you are either brave or stupid, or possibly both for thinking you could actually beat me."_

"Actually, I knew I couldn't win, it's the experience that counts," Johnson replied confidently as Lucario stepped off his back and offered him his paw to help the marine up.

"_So, you decided to fight me knowing you would get your ass handed to you on a silver platter, just so you could gain some combat experience?"_

"That and build some more tolerance to pain. We have a saying that pain is weakness leaving the body," the marine captain replied as he rubbed the sore areas on his body. "You're harder than you look, and you can deliver one hell of a punch."

"_Did I forget to mention that my bones are covered in metal?"_ Lucario said with a smirk across his face.

"Yah, I don't recall you ever saying anything about that," Johnson replied dryly, "No wonder I felt like I was hitting a brick wall when I tackled you."

"_The two hits you landed on me were pretty strong for a human. Most people don't even cause me to flinch anymore."_

"I told you we are the best of the best, from our dimension at least," Johnson replied before looking down at his watch, "Well, I enjoyed our little spare, but I have work to do and Aspirin to take."

Johnson shook hands with Lucario as they exchanged farewells before walking off. Lucario then turned toward Zorua with a devilish grin. While they weren't allowed to fight on the field, that didn't mean he still couldn't train Zorua into the ground.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful though Zorua was completely exhausted from Lucario training exercises, which included running laps around the base and holding complex illusions for extended periods of time. Lucario didn't even protest when Zorua collapsed on the bed and fell asleep instantly.

The rest of the week was also for the most part rather dull. Lucario and Zorua would continue to train in their free time and even got permission to do a few full out skirmishes. These of course brought out the marines like six year olds to a candy store. Lucario won every match but it was taking longer and Zorua was landing more hits that were becoming increasingly powerful. There were also meetings every other day in the capitol building, planning out the fine details of the upcoming mission. Lucario chose the three marines from Eagle squad that he had worked with as the soldiers to come with him, which surprised no one.

One interesting part of the week was the crash course Lucario got in parachuting. First, Lucario was taught three weeks of lessons and drills in four days. This included proper landing techniques and jumping from two-story buildings, which was relatively easy. However, do to security reasons, Lucario never jumped from an actual plane. Second, the instructors had to find a harness that fit the small bipedal canine and could support the his weight, plus the combat gear he was taking with him, which was mainly a modified vest that could carry explosive charges and a small backpack like apparatus that Zorua could be carried in when they jumped from the plane. Luckily, this wasn't too difficult and suitable equipment was found or modified.

By the end of the week, everything was in place for the upcoming operation. The army was mobilized and in position fifty miles north of the Orion base. Targets for the bombers had been chosen, ranging from ammo depots to vehicle storage areas to troop barracks. Equipment was primed and checked.

Lucario, Zorua, the three marines, and the other generals involved were in a final mission briefing the night of their raid at the marine base. The men were spread out across the large briefing room going over the plan on last time.

"Your primary targets are areas that are bombs cannot penetrate such as the main generators that are under the base and the data servers," General Ogden said sternly. "Our bombers are already on route and are currently flying a deceptive path to the north to delay their arrival. We can assume that the Belkans are monitoring McNealy to give them an early warning. Once they are over the base, the bunker busting bombs they are carrying should severely limit movement throughout the base allowing you easier access. Now, are there any questions?" No one respond or raised a hand. "Then Godspeed gentlemen."

With that, the five raiders left the room with all of the weapons and equipment and made their way to the waiting transport. The marines were armed with M416 Carbines with suppressers, red dot sights, and standard thirty round magazines. Each marine was also carrying M67 Fragmentation Grenades and large amounts of C-4. Lucario had his modified vest on and it was packed to the brim with C-4 charges and detonators. A few minutes later and the black transport was making its way toward its target and took up a position a few miles behind the formation of three B-2 stealth bombers.

* * *

"Something's not right. Our scouts reported three bombers left ten hours ago. If they were to bomb us, it should have happened by now," General Marshal said quietly to no one in particular.

"Maybe they are flying a long route, wasting time to try and catch us off guard," Hopper replied skeptically, also feeling lightly uneasy about the current situation. It had been a week since their raid and the Osean Military was yet to strike. They had monitored the mobilization of the Army troops, but they were holding position a few dozen miles north of the base. Something wasn't right.

"Maybe, but not likely, our scouts reported that the bearing of the bombers was north-east, but none of our other scouts reported seeing refueling aircraft take off from anywhere. Chances are they flew over to an ISAF base in Usea for the upcoming war games. Take the base off of alert, the men have been at their stations for several hours and not one enemy action has been detected."

"Yes sir."

* * *

The formation of three bombers continued to their target at a cruising speed of 560 mph. The pilots were focus solely on their mission despite having flown circles around Osea for the past ten hours. The planes had also flown out over the ocean to get refueled by Navy planes using external buddy pods before making their way to their target. Two of the high tech bombers were each carrying sixteen GBU-28 bunker busting bombs; each 5,000lb bomb could go through 20 feet of solid concrete to reach their intended target. The third bomber carried two GBU-57 Massive Ordinance Penetrators. These monster bombs each weighed 30,000lbs with 5,300lbs of high explosives and could penetrate up to two hundred feet of the earth's crust.

The bombers made their way under radio silence, not wanting to give any sign of their existence as they started their bombing run. The bombs were all GPS guided and already had the coordinates loaded into their electronic brains; all the bombers had to do was get their payload a few miles outside the base. The lead bomber was carrying the two MOPs. As soon as the plane reached its drop zone, the pilots began the process of delivering the massive payload.

"Alright, we are on target," one of the pilots said, "GPS systems are active and the bombs have acquired their targets. Get ready to open bomb bay doors for bomb run." This was the most dangerous part of the mission as the bomber would lose some of its stealth when the bomb bay was open to the rest of the world. "Open bomb bay doors. Release the bombs on my mark…Mark…and…Mark. Close bomb bay doors and wait for the others to make their bomb run before coming to bearing two-eight-seven."

Immediately, the plane lunged upward from the sudden loss of weight as the two massive bunker busters accelerated toward their targets. The other stealth bombers began releasing their payload as well as the 5,000lb bombs began to fall to their targets. After a few seconds, all thirty four bombs were falling toward their respective targets, their electronic brains making small corrections to their trajectory as they accelerated down toward the earth.

* * *

There was a small beep on one of the radar operator's counsels to get the man's attention. The Belkan Corporal looked over at the respective screen groggily, he had been on station for twelve hours straight and his shift was almost over. His face turned to horror as he saw three small blips appear only a few miles out. Only moments later, the lead blip had two smaller objects separate from it before disappearing off his screen, moments later; the other two blips disappeared as well, leaving only the two small blips on screen.

**Powder Keg, Ace Combat 5 OST, Namco Sounds**

**(Song begins)**

"General," the soldier screamed out, "Three stealth bombers just appeared and disappeared on radar. I am tracking two large bombs and an unknown amount of smaller bombs!"

Marshal swore under his breath, only a few dozen minutes had passed since the men went to their barracks after what had appeared to be a false alarm.

"Get the damage control teams ready and bring the base back to alert. The Osean army could be coming in after this!" Marshal ordered then left for his private control center. Instantaneously, klaxons erupted throughout the base as soldiers forced themselves back to their respective battle stations. Unfortunately, large amounts of them never made it. The first MOP struck the concrete surface of the base before smashing its way through the reinforced structuring down into the central control center and exploding. The giant fireball spread throughout the room and back out the hole it had created lighting up the base around the point of impact. The second massive bomb struck the main fuel stores that were one hundred and fifty feet below the main hangers. The combination of jet and tank fuel ignited, increasing the pressure in the fuel tanks to astronomical numbers before sending jets of fire up toward the night sky. The smaller bombs began striking their targets which ranged from vehicle hangers to key passage ways throughout the base to troop's barracks and defenses. Each bomb easily destroyed its intended target and killed large numbers of troops that were densely packed in the tight tunnels. After all the bombs had fallen, several parts of the base were cut off from another as passageways collapsed. Some men found themselves trapped in their underground living quarters which were rapidly filling with smoke. On the surface, large fires were raging near what used to be parked vehicles and other combustible materials.

**(Song ends)**

General Marshal was thrown off his feet by the blast wave the annihilated the room he had been in moments before. He pushed himself off the ground and looked around to see that the emergency lighting was on and the long hall he was in was covered in broken glass. A soldier came running over, asking if he was alright. Marshal only gave a curt nod before sprinting off towards his private quarters. All around him, men continued to get to their posts, armed and ready for whatever was to come.

* * *

"Alright, get ready back there," the pilot called to the five passengers in the back of the stolen transport, "You jump in thirty seconds." The pilot proceeded to pull down a lever, moments later the rear hatch started opening, exposing the cargo bay to the open night sky. Zorua was already in the small pack that was strapped to Lucario's chest. Everyone else was standing near the rear, waiting for the small light above the open ramp to turn from red to green. A few seconds later, there was a loud, mechanical buzz and the light switched green. Immediately, the four raiders ran and jumped into the night sky, Lucario doing a front flip in the process.

Lucario simply closed his eyes, not bothering to put on goggles like the others. He could still see fine and didn't like how they felt on his head. Right now, all Lucario could hear was the wind whistling in his ears and the force of it against his fur. His arms were at his side as he streamlined his body. He reached a terminal velocity of 54 m/s in just under six seconds as he continued his downward plunge. He and the others kept an eye on their altimeters, waiting for the correct altitude to release their shoots. As they were preforming a HALO (High Altitude, Low Opening) jump, their free fall lasted for over a minute. They could easily see the fires spreading around the base as they descended. When they reached an altitude of two thousand feet, they deployed their parachutes. Shortly after, all four were safely on the ground, taking their harnesses off and putting the parachutes in a pile. When all the extra gear as piled up, Lucario and Zorua set it on fire as to remove any evidence of the groups infiltration.

**Mother Goose 1, Ace Combat 5 OST, Namco Sounds**

**(Song start)**

The raiders quickly made their way to the main building that was about fifty feet away. Johnson opened the door as the other two marines went through, rifles raised, ready to take out any threat. Johnson, Lucario, and Zorua followed through moments later. Lucario then took the lead, his eyes closed and aura sensors raised, relying on his aura vision to navigate the large building and avoid Belkan personnel. Their first target was the data servers that held information about the Belkan's activities. Luckily, the group had yet to run into any Belkans as they reached the door that lead to the large data server room. Lucario could sense the auras of ten people on the other side of the door.

"_Ten Belkans inside the room, six have rifles on them and the others appear to be technicians,"_ Lucario telepathed, receiving nods from the three marines. Lucario moved in front of the door before taking a deep breath and kicking it down. He instantaneously formed and threw two Aura Blades at the startled guards. The marines followed through and gunned down the remaining Belkans in the room, their suppressed weapons only making a slight hissing sound in the process. Snow ran up to one of the counsels and inserted a USB drive and disk into their respective slots while the others made sure no one disrupted his work. A few minutes later, the group was on the move again, having downloaded all of the data from the servers and wired the door with explosives.

Their next target was the base's power generators, which were located about two hundred feet below them in a reinforced bunker. Lucario was once again on point, guiding the raiders through the complex network of tunnels. Zorua was keeping an illusion around the group as they went, making them invisible to the Belkans they passed along the way. After a stressful five minute descent down a narrow stairwell, Lucario could see the doors that led to the generator room. He smirked to himself as he sensed only two guards at the door and no one inside the room. There was a brief hiss behind Lucario as the two guards dropped to the floor.

"Okay Zorua, you can drop the illusion for now," Lucario said softly as he bent down and briefly rubbed her head, "You did a great job. Now come on, we have work to do."

"Thanks," Zorua breathed out, tired from holding up the large, complex illusion for so long.

All the marines heard were a series of grunts and yips behind them as they opened the large metal doors. The group walked through the door with Lucario and Zorua trailing behind the marines. The room was massive with two columns of generators running down each side of the room with eight generators in each column, each making a low humming noise. They were expecting big, but not quite this big. Lucario frowned as he realized they would need all the explosives they brought to get this part of the job done properly. While it was technically their only other target, Lucario wanted to make sure the devise that brought him here was destroyed as well.

"Alright, start rigging them up, charges every other generator," Johnson called out as he ran over to the generator closest to him.

"I wonder where all the technicians are. You think you would have a handful of them down here monitoring these things," the Chief yelled out as he set his own charges.

"I don't know, but right now I don't care," Johnson replied, making his way down a column.

It took the group roughly two minutes to rig and synchronize all the charges. Johnson pulled out a small control panel and set the timers to ten minutes before arming the charges. Every explosive charge gave a slight beep as a small light lit up on all the set explosives.

"Alright, we got ten minutes before this place blows. Lucario, think you can get us out of here before that happens?" Johnson announced.

"_Yes,"_ Lucario lied back, not wanting to leave before he finished a certain task, _"Follow me."_

The raiders made their way back to the stairwell and began their ascent back to the surface, using what explosives they had left to booby-trap the path back down. Lucario once again had his eyes closed, relying on his aura vision. Once he reached to the top of the stairs, he formed a knife in his paw and lunged through the door at an unsuspecting Belkan soldier. The blade went straight into the man's gut as Lucario tackled him into the wall, giving the knife a brief twist before dissipating the blade and letting the soldier fall limp onto the ground. Two more Belkan soldiers rounded the corner before freezing at the sight before them. As soon as it registered in their brains, they brought up their rifles. That was as far as they made it as the marines exited the stairwell and fired several quick bursts. One of the Belkan's fingers pulled the trigger of his rifle as he fell back, sending bullets flying toward the ceiling. The sound of the gunshots echoed through the narrow hallways.

**(Song end)**

"Shit," all three marines swore under their breath as they knew what was going to happen next; seconds later, a fresh round of alarms started up.

"_THIS WAY,"_ Lucario called out, running off down one of the halls. The marines followed suit, unscrewing the suppressors off their rifles as they ran, no longer needing the extra weight and length hindering their movements. As soon as this was done, their M416s were up aiming ahead of Lucario as he guided them. He turned down a large hall, already in the process of forming an Aura Sphere. As soon as he finished rounding the corner, he flung the explosive, purple sphere into a group of Belkan soldiers that had been running down the hall toward him. The explosion propelled the shocked soldier into the walls and/ or ceiling, or just outright killed them. Either way, Lucario knew they were no longer a threat. Behind him, Johnson had just thrown a M67 frag grenade down another hallway; three seconds later, there was an explosion mixed with screams from the soldiers caught in the blast. The group continued down the hallway with Lucario up front with Zorua trailing at his heels and the marines following up in the rear. Lucario turned down another hallway and continued toward another large set of metal doors. This time there were a good dozen or so men standing guard, all of them with their rifles already pointed down the hallway. Lucario already had an Aura Shield in place in front of him, covering the entire hallway. The Belkans opened fire moments later sending a large amount of small arms fire toward Lucario and the Osean pests that appeared behind him. Ten seconds later, the only sound that filled the hallway was the sounds of the Belkan rifles clicking at empty magazines. Lucario smiled to himself as he dropped the shield and the marines behind him returned fire, giving each Belkan a small burst before they could react. It only took a few seconds before the Osean marines were changing clips, sprinting after Lucario as he approached two massive, metal doors.

"_Alright, there are about fifty soldiers on the other side of these doors. Once I burst through I will set up another shield around us. This time, I will create small openings for your bullets to exit through as you fire them."_

"Okay, pardon me for being skeptical, but wouldn't it be easier to find another way?" the Chief questioned back, looking at his watch and seeing that they had three minutes before the charges went off.

Lucario ignored the soldier behind him as he set a paw on each door and began channeling large amounts of energy into each. A few seconds later, he unleashed the massive Force Palm attack that sent both of the doors crashing into the room. The shield was already created as Lucario walked into the room, creating a half dome from the doors to in front of himself before kneeling down to better concentrate. The marines had already followed their white, canine ally through the doors and began engaging the enemy soldiers who on all sides of them and above them on second story balconies. Both sides were firing, but only the Belkans were falling as Lucario kept the shield up despite the large amount of energy and concentration it took to open and close parts of the shield a few times every second. The firefight went on for roughly two minutes before the Belkans were either all dead or chickening out.

Lucario finally dropped the shield and collapsed onto his hands, exhausted. Because of this, he didn't pick up on the latest threat until it was too late. Before Lucario could warn any of his fellow raiders, there was a deafening screech all around him as he fell to the ground and covered his ears. The marines also fell down to the ground, dropping their rifles and covering their ears.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here," a voice said tauntingly over an intercom system, "A bunch of Osean pigs and two lost Pokémon. I must admit, I am impressed with vicious assault. You went through most of my guards like they were nothing," the voice continued before switching to a more serious tone, "Too bad it ends here. Kill the Oseans and disable the two Pokémon. Have them ready to be shipped over to Hamilton in the morning.

"Hey assholes," Johnson called out defiantly through the deafening screech before switching to a smug tone, "How well do you see in the dark?" His watch let out several rapid beeps. Two hundred feet below them, all of the C-4 charges let out the same rapid beep before detonating simultaneously. The room went up in a massive fireball completely destroying everything around it and sending massive shockwaves throughout the base. Back in the main lab, the lights went out for a few seconds before switching to reserve power. A dim, red light filled the room in place of the main overhead lights. The sudden power outage, followed by the tremors of the explosion, caused the soldiers firing the sonic cannons to falter. By the time the emergency lighting kicked in, Lucario, Zorua, and the marines were regaining themselves. Lucario dove off to one of the wall with Zorua while the marines ran forward to some creates. They instantly started searching for the soldier holding whatever weapon had just disabled them. This proved to be difficult in the low light situation. Lucario was the first to find one of the soldiers as his senses returned. Said soldier had also finally regained from the blast and let his eyes adjust to the new light. He was just about to fire his cannon at the unsuspecting marines when he saw a purple glow in the corner of his eye. Lucario smiled as the Aura Sphere struck home, exploding on impact with the Belkan soldier.

Lucario sensed more Belkan soldier approaching the room, too many for them to effectively deal with. He could see his target, a large, cylindrical pillar in the middle of the room with large lenses and curved mirrors above it. That was what he came here to destroy and he intended to do just that. Without any warning, he built up large amounts of energy in his legs before using Extreme Speed to close the distance to his target. All the marines and Zorua saw was Lucario becoming a white blur has he raced towards his target. When Lucario was twenty feet away, he jumped into the air and formed Metal Claws on each paw. He landed against the tall, metal cylinder and jammed his blades through the outer layers. Seconds later, electricity started sparking all around the machine and into Lucario, who was now screaming in pain. He tried pulling his claws back out but they wouldn't budge, nor could he disparate the attack for some reason. Eventually, his entire body began giving off a bright white light.

The sudden light at the end of the room caught everyone else off guard as they stopped what they were doing to look at the strange light. Zorua knew what the light meant but was confused as to why Lucario was its source. The marines watched in awe before realizing there was enough light to see the remaining Belkans and opened fire on the stunned troops. The light died down as Lucario fell limp from the overloading Dimensional Laser Extractor. The marines ran forward to their fallen ally. They stopped a few steps away and looked down at Lucario, their faces a mix of worry and confusion. They were worried for obvious reasons but what confused them were the physical changes Lucario had gone through. His wrist spikes had large, curved blades extending from each side, running to just beyond the tip of his paw to slightly above his elbow. It was the same dark purple color as his spikes and looked flawlessly connected to this hand spikes. The gravity of the situation caught up with the marines as the DLE started groaning and more electricity started arcing around it.

"Come on, we have to get out of here!" Johnson yelled out, reaching down to pick up Lucario, keeping in mind the spark protrusions, new and old. However, as soon as he touched Lucario, his eyes snapped open.

"_Ugh, what happened?"_ Lucario groaned before rubbing his aching head with his paw.

"Well, you stabbed that machine and it shocked you so much so underwent physical changes," Johnson replied, not knowing anything about Pokémon evolution.

"_What do you mean by physical changes?"_

"You evolved dumb butt. Check out your arms," Zorua interjected, not bothering with telepathy, keeping the marines in the dark. It took a second for what Zorua said to register in his brain before he quickly looked down at his arms and noticed the new blades. They reminded him of a Gallade's arms or the horn on an Absol's head.

"Look, we have to get out of here," Johnson called out, "That thing looks like it's about to blow and I don't want to be around when it does."

"_Right,"_ both Lucario and Zorua replied. Lucario stood up and started for the exit when electricity arced through his body, causing him to yell out in pain again. What worried the others the most was the color of the energy that seemed to be trapped in Lucario's body; it was both a dim pink and a dull grey color. This only lasted a few seconds before it dissipated and Lucario continued toward the exit, not saying anything to his worried comrades. Every few steps a small amount of the pinkish or grey energy would spark out of Lucario's body causing him to wince slightly.

The group quickly made their way out of the building, engaging what Belkans they encountered along the way. They burst out into the night sky to see Belkans running around frantically, trying to combat the fires. Johnson decided now would be a good time to call in the cavalry.

"This is Eagle Lead to Eagle Actual, do you read me? Over," Johnson said into his helmet mic and waited for a response. After a few seconds he repeated. "I repeat, this is Eagle Lead to Eagle Actual, do you read me? Over."

"This is Eagle Actual," a voice crackled over the radio, "I read you, what is your status, over."

"Guardian is a go. I repeat Guardian is a go. We are exfiltrating to primary evac, over."

"Roger that Eagle Lead. The choppers are leaving now and will arrive in fifteen minutes, over."

"Copy that, over and out."

The raiders had just reached the perimeter fence when Lucario had another surge, the electricity surging out from his body as he yelled out in agony. Everyone could see that this surge was worse than the last. When it stopped a bit later, Lucario could see the worried looks on the soldier's faces. Zorua looked especially worried as she looked into Lucario bright, purple eyes.

"_I'm fine,"_ Lucario grunted out, obviously lying, _"Let's go."_

Lucario went to use Metal Claw to cut through the fence, but the three blades never materialized from his paws. Instead, his newly acquired blades began glowing white as the front bit elongated a little bit, extending an extra six inches from the tip of his paw.

'_Huh, not what I was expecting but I guess it will work,'_ Lucario thought to himself. He took a step back before bringing one of the blades down on the chain link fence, easily cutting through it. Johnson and Snow stepped forward and peeled back the fence to create a nice sized hole for the group to escape through.

The group continued sprinting for roughly seven minutes with Lucario having another two surges, each getting progressively worse. They finally reached a small clearing were the evac choppers were supposed to meet them. Lucario sat down, exhausted from the nights work, but mainly from the surges that were becoming worse with every passing minute. He winced as a bit of the energy sparked out again. Zorua came up and sat next to her ailing friend.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Zorua asked, the concern easily recognizable in her voice. However, before Lucario could respond, another surge hit him as he cried out in absolute agony. The last thing he remembered before blacking out was Zorua yelling his name.

* * *

Okay, good news and bad news. The bad news, yes that is downright evil of me to stop right there. The good news is that the next chapter is going to be a short transition chapter from Act I to Act II. So hopefully you won't have to suffer too long.

Also, if you are confused as to what Lucario Arm Blades look like, I have a link on my profile for a sketch I drew up, hope it helps. And with that, I am done. Hope you all are having a great summer!


	14. Transitions

Okay, first order of business. Since none of you guys decided you give me any input on new region name, I came up with one myself. Emerra is out and Saldara is in. I am trying to give you guys / girls a chance to have some input on this story. The least you could do is help me out some… Anyway, end of rant, back to announcements

Today is my birthday! *confetti* so as a party favor to all of you all, here is Chapter 14, now for presents, all I want is for you to click that review button. Please?

Lucario: I really hate you right now.

Osean: I can live with it. Now go away, you're supposed to be unconscious.

Lucario: Fine, but I better not wake up any different.

Osean: Oh, don't worry. No more physical changes for you.

Zorua: Wait, for him?

Osean: Yes, no more for him.

Zorua: I don't like were this is going.

Osean: Oh suck it up.

* * *

Act I: Revelation

Chapter 14: Transitions

Zorua watched in horror as Lucario fell backwards onto the ground, screaming in pain. The pink and grey energy was arcing all over his body. His scream died out after a few seconds but the strange energy kept up its sporadic jumping. By now the marines had taken notice of Lucario dire state and had rushed over.

"Okay, he is definitely not fine," Snow blurted out.

"No shit Sherlock," the Chief countered, "But I am not in any hurry to touch him."

"Well we need to do something," Johnson said worried as a large explosion echoed off in the distance.

"But what, all we have is a basic med kit. I don't think it's going to help much," Snow replied.

The marines continued their debate as Zorua watched in shock (no pun intended) as the surge intensified, prompting another scream from Lucario's unconscious body.

"Lucario…no," Zorua whimpered out, tears forming in her eyes, "You can't die on me."

"Look, we need to face reality here. There is nothing we can do for him. We know nothing about his internal structure and his body is covered in some weird electricity," the Chief said solemnly, "I think the best thing to do is…"

Suddenly there was a loud crack behind the marines that reminded them of thunder. They instantly turned around with their weapons raised at the source of the noise. Their jaws immediately hung open at the sight before them. Two large, swirling portals had opened in the sky. One was the same pinkish color as the energy afflicting Lucario and the other was the same grey color. There was another loud crack as the portals expanded, becoming well over twenty feet in diameter. By now the wind in the surrounding landscape was rivaling that of a hurricane as tree bent over and loose debris was flying about. There was one final thunder like crack as two beings began to immerge from the portals. Each was a towering height and very dragon like in appearance. The marines stood flabbergasted at the two being full emerged from their portals and landed on the ground about a dozen yards away. Zorua immediately recognized the two legendary Pokémon in front of her. Her jaw also dropped in awe of the controllers of space and dimensions. The being that exited the grey portal was taller than the other. Its body was mostly grey and black, with areas of red and gold on certain areas. The other being that exited the pink portal was almost entirely white with light pink lines running over its body. Zorua immediately recognized the two legendary Pokémon in front of her. Her jaw also dropped in awe of the controllers of space and dimensions.

There was a bit of an awkward silence as the portals closed up and the winds died down. The marines were looking up at the tall dragons before them, their rifles no longer raised all the way. The two dragons were in turn looking down at the group of humans with their harsh eyes.

"_So this is the dimension our brethren were taken,"_ a deep voice said to all the surrounding minds.

"_It would appear so,"_ another low voice said, _"Now, let's get this over with. This dimension reeks of war."_

The larger grey dragons head nodded in approval before both started radiate their respective colors. This continued for a bit before each was engulfed in an expanding energy field. The fields stopped growing when they completely overlapped, forming a single dome of swirling pink and grey. Without any warning, the dome shot out in all directions with unmatched speed.

When the light died down, Johnson looked around. The two large dragons were still present in front of him and nothing seemed to have changed. However, when he looked at where Lucario and Zorua had been, he noticed that they were no longer present. His next action was rather rash considering the power difference between himself and the large dragons he was about to confront.

"What did you do with Lucario and Zorua?!" Johnson yelled out, anger ever present in his voice, "Where are they?!"

"_We have transported them back to their dimension. Along with everything else that originated from our world,"_ the first voice said into the marine captain's mind, who guessed it was the large grey beast.

"What about Lucario, is he going to recover?"

"_That was yet to be determined,"_ the second voice replied calmly, _"We will do everything in our power to ensure his survival, but the choice will ultimately be his own."_

"_Now, we must depart from your dimension. You have our thanks brave soldiers. May peace return to your dimension."_

With that, the two dragons each opened their respective portals, once again creating loud thunder claps and gale force winds. After the portals finished opening, each stepped forward and disappeared into thin air, the portals closing seconds later. The three marines only stood there, not quite comprehending what had just happened.

"Well, now what?" Snow asked.

"We just wait for the choppers," Johnson replied a few seconds later.

"Think we will ever see either of them again?" the Chief chimed in.

"I doubt it, but you never know, especially after what we have seen these past two weeks."

* * *

**Spawn of the Dragon, The Best Brand X Music, Brand X Music**

**(Song start)**

'_Ugh, where am I?'_ Lucario thought as he rubbed his splitting head with one of his paws. He opened his eyes and looked around only to see a black void, bringing back memories of a certain prank. "Zorua, this better not be another one of your tricks," Lucario called out frantically, hoping for some sort of response. A few seconds passed with no reply before Lucario let out a low sigh, wondering what to do next. His body was still giving off a continuous stream of energy that was arcing all around his body, yet he did not feel any pain at the current moment. There were a few weird lights swirling around in the void he was in, but not much of anything else. However, a few seconds later, there was a loud, thunderous crack as two new sources of light appeared a bit in front of him. The crack sounded again as the light sources grew in size. This continued for a few seconds before two easily recognizable Pokémon exited from the lights, Palkia and Giratina.

"Well, you have gotten yourself into quite the predicament," Giratina started, "Never before have we had to deal with this type of problem."

"What are you talking about," Lucario replied, confused to no ends why he was before two legendary Pokémon.

"We are not entirely sure ourselves, but you have somehow managed to absorb large amounts of the energy the two of us use and manipulate," Palkia replied with noticeable amounts of interest its voice, "Care to explain?

"Well," Lucario said before thinking back to his recent actions, only one sticking out as the possible reason, "It might be from when I destroyed the device that brought me to that dimension."

"And how exactly did you go about destroying said devise?" Giratina questioned, interested at how this situation developed.

"I ran up to it and dug my metal claws into it," Lucario answered somewhat sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"I see. In all practicality, why did you not use a more reasonable attack, such as an aura sphere?"

"Well…" Lucario thought for a second, retracing his actions before he destroyed the large, metal cylinder, "I guess there are three reasons. One: I was still somewhat disoriented from a certain weapon that was used against me. Two: I am pretty sure I was on an adrenaline high. Three: I had already used up large amounts of my aura and using anymore put my life at great risk."

"Very well," Palkia stated plainly, "Ironically, in your effort not to endanger life, you have done just that."

"I assume you're talking about this electricity that is surrounding my body," Lucario said as he gestured toward himself, "Speaking of which, why isn't it causing me pain like it was before?"

"Palkia and I have temporarily dampened its potency."

"Now, we have brought you here to discuss your options about resolving this issue," Palkia started in a serious tone, "While we may not have encountered his issue before, we can easily fix it."

"We have come up with three possible solutions for you to choose from," Giratina continued, "Option one is we can do nothing and let the energy contained in you continue its natural release. This is extremely painful, as you know, and most likely fatal. Option two involves Palkia and me forcibly removing the energy from you. While it won't be painful, death is almost certain."

By now, Lucario was in a cold sweat. The two options laid out before him involved him dying, which didn't seem like a really good way to save his life. He was praying to Arceus that the third option didn't involve an almost certain death.

"Finally, we can transfer some of our power to you, stabilizing the energy that is trapped in your body and involves almost no risk to your life."

Lucario blinked a few times after he heard the final option. Two legendary Pokémon just offered to give him some of their power to save his life. To say that he was flabbergasted would be the understatement of the millennium.

"Why would you do that?" Lucario asked in confusion, "Why would you give me some of your power just to save me life. I mean, I'm just some normal Pokémon hardly worthy to be in your presence."

Lucario could see smiles form on both the dragons' faces, which was slightly unnerving.

"You do not give yourself enough credit Azorian," Giratina said proudly, "You are of a rare bloodline after all. It would be a shame to let you die as there are only a handful of pure Azorians left in the world. On the contrary, we should be the ones honored by your presence."

If it were physically possible, Lucario's jaw would have hit the ground. His most guarded secret was known by two Pokémon that he had just met. Then again, the whole legendary thing might have played a role in it.

"How…how did you know that? How did you know that I am of Azorian decent," Lucario asked in absolute disbelief.

"We legendries tend to know things others wouldn't," Palkia said smugly, "Now, do you accept our offer? Are you willing to take on the power and responsibility of being a legendary Pokémon?"

At this point, nothing short of Arceus appearing would surprise Lucario anymore. He was just offered the chance to become a legendary Pokémon. That doesn't happen, period. Yet, he just heard the offer and had to replay the scene several times in his head before replying.

"HELL YES!" Lucario screamed out at the top of his lungs before realizing what he just did, "I mean, I am honored by your offer and humbly accept."

Both Palkia and Giratina let out a low laugh at the Aura Pokémon's enthusiastic response then attempted salvage. Both moved so that they were flanking Lucario and began forming energy spheres in front of their massive bodies. Before Lucario could question what exactly was happening, he found himself in the center of the orbs, surrounded by the swirling pink and grey energy. At first he expected it to be painful, but the pain never came. Instead he felt very relaxed as the energy washed over him. He could see the energy that had been sparking all over his body begin to recede into his body. It was one of the most peaceful feelings Lucario had ever experienced. However, as suddenly has the feeling had come, it left. Lucario looked around, slightly sad of having his normal senses back.

"That's it?" Lucario asked curiously, thinking there had to be more.

"Yes, that is it," Palkia replied with a nod of the head.

"So, what happens now?"

"Now you must let your new powers develop. Your powers are in the infancy, in time they will grow and you will be able to control them," Giratina responded.

"And what exactly are my 'new powers'?"

"You will be able to open portals through space and dimensions, just like Palkia and myself."

"Now we will return you to Saldara, back to your friend. It is up to you to decide if she knows of these events and your new status," Palkia said plainly.

Before Lucario could ask anything else, there was a bright flash of light and his surroundings melted away. The next thing he knew, he was in a forest and it was night outside. He could sense all the life around him, plant and animal, or more specifically, Pokémon and there was one aura in particular that he set off toward.

**(End song)**

* * *

**Into the Dusk, Ace Combat 5 OST, Namco Sounds**

**(Song start)**

Zorua was having trouble understanding what just happened. First Lucario goes into some uncontrollable, electrical spasm. Then Palkia and Giratina appear out of nowhere. Finally she somehow ended up in a forest, alone. No Lucario. No marines. No one…

"LUCARIO," Zorua yelled out at the top of her lungs. Listening, hoping, for a reply. Hoping to see her only friend come out from the trees and comfort her. Hoping that her only friend was still alive and had not passed on to the next life. However, there was no reply. Only the continued sound of the nocturnal Pokémon could be heard through the calm, night air.

"LUCARIO," she cried out again in desperation, her voice trembling. She waited a few minutes in silence, her legs trembling. Defeated, saddened, Zorua fell onto her stomach, her legs no longer capable of supporting her. A few more seconds passed before Zorua was reduced to a crying wreck. Tears flowed from her eyes as she cried out of emotional pain. Her only friend was gone, she was once again alone. She didn't know where to go, what to do, or who to trust. She was lost, both physically and emotionally. Zorua continued to sob; the fur on her face was now damp from the amount of tears that had fallen from her eyes. She was so far gone from her surroundings that she failed to notice a Pokémon approaching behind her.

"No, no, no," Zorua whispered to herself, unaware of the Pokémon silently watching her, "You can't be gone. You just can't…"

"Ahem," the Pokémon coughed when it was a few yards behind the emotionally distressed fox.

Zorua normally would have immediately attacked anyone who snuck up behind her, but she was too depressed. She only turned her saddened head to see who was interrupting her mourning. Her teary eyes only made out the rough out outline of the Pokémon. It was bipedal and mostly white and grey with areas of purple. Zorua blinked a few times between her sobs to help clear her eyes from the salty water that obscured her vision. When she opened her eyes after the final blink, her crying all but stopped as she saw the Pokémon in front of her eyes.

**(Song end)**

**Icarus, Skyworld, Two Steps from Hell**

**(Song start)**

"Geez, I didn't know I couldn't leave you for a few minutes without you breaking down into a nervous wreck," Lucario taunted his companion with a comforting smile across his canine face and arms crossed under his chest spike, his newly acquired blades facing outward. Zorua looked up at his friend in utter shock. Not only did he appear to be completely fine, he seemed better. There was something different about him that she couldn't quite put together. He looked the no different than when she saw him last, yet at the same time, more powerful. His sleek, white fur almost glistening in the moon light while his piercing, purple eyes gazed down at her. As powerful as his eyes appeared, they were full of comfort as she looked into them.

Her next action took Lucario completely by surprise as Zorua tackled Lucario, impacting his stomach and forcing him to fall back onto the grass. She stayed on top of him and buried her head in his fur as a new round of tears started up, but this time they were tears of joy.

"Don't you ever do that again!" Zorua cried out, finally removing her head from Lucario's grey fur, "I don't know what I would do without you."

"Not making any promises," Lucario replied with a small laugh as he playfully rubbed Zorua's head.

"So what happened? Why aren't you all sparky?" Zorua asked as she hopped off Lucario's stomach, finally allowing him to stand up again.

"I would be tempted to say you wouldn't believe me if I told you, but I know otherwise," Lucario replied with a smirk, "Now come on, I'll tell you on the way. I am guessing it will take us a while to get there."

"Huh, what do you mean?" Zorua questioned, ears perking up slightly, "Where are we going?"

Lucario's smiled softened as he looked up at the stars, "Home."

**(End song)**

* * *

Osean: See, I told you, no more physical changes for you.

Lucario: I suppose this is true, though I am not quite sure if I should be thanking you for my new status, or hunting you down for all the new responsibilities.

Zorua: Why do you keep saying for him? What about me?!

Osean: Can't you just be happy you're back in Saldara?

Zorua: NO!

Lucario: I am glad to be back.

Osean: See, why can't you be more like Lucario? *Rubs Lucario's head*

Ta dah! Well, what do you think? Also, what do you think of Lucario's new powers and legendary status? And new region name, Saldara, good, meh, bad? Please leave a review for this chapter. It's not like any of my other chapters save maybe Chapter 4. I am dying to know how I did, and would like more feedback than from my normal two reviewers, many thanks to GameManiac and Rikilucario7. It honestly doesn't take much effort or time. I really cannot find a reason not to and it hurts my soul…


	15. A Tragic History

I claim a bit of author powers this chapter as I do not know much about Belkan geography. So based off what I do know I will make up some stuff, aka city names. This will not be the only chapter I claim author powers for this and a few other purposes.

Once again, songs are on my profile along with some other items to further your enjoyment and understanding of this chapter.

* * *

Zorua: Are we there yet?

Lucario: We haven't even left yet, how on earth could we be there?

Zorua: I don't know, you the new legendary not me. Do something amazing.

Osean: Well, his powers haven't developed yet so I don't think amazing is going to happen for a while.

Lucario: And even when they do come in I will need practice first.

Zorua: You guys are buzz kills…

Lucario: Not my fault.

Zorua: So, are we there now?

Lucario: For the love of Arceus…

Osean: I think I will let you handle this. *Laughs*

Lucario: I will get you back for this.

Zorua: How bout now?

* * *

Act II: Vengeance

Chapter 15: A Tragic History

The small fighting that had progressed through the Orion Base during the night was nothing compared to the full scale military assault that was currently taking place in the early morning light with the sun barely peaking over the horizon. While the Belkan's defenses were weakened, they were not out of the fight yet. In the time it took the Osean Army to advance the fifty miles to the base, most of the Belkan troops finished preparing what defenses they could. The lead elements were just starting to break through to the perimeter fence that surrounded the original base after hours of combat.

"This is Hawk 4; we require immediate fire support at point Echo-two-five. We are facing heavy enemy resistance and all of our armor support has been neutralized, over."

"Roger that Hawk 4. We have a battery of one-five-fives (155mm artillery guns) on station, sending the coordinates now, over."

"Copy that, over and out."

Roughly three minutes later, the platoon that made up Hawk 4 could hear the shells passing overhead and impacting their targets a few hundred yards in front of them. Each shell sending up a massive cloud of dirt and annihilating the Belkan defenses in their blast radius. The twenty round bombardment lasted a little over ten seconds before the shells stopped falling and the army unit began pushing forward again.

"This is Hawk 4 to all combat elements; we have broken through the enemy perimeter at point echo-two-five, proceeding to base interior, over and out."

Back at the command and control center, which was back at the staging point, General Ogden was monitoring the progress of the assault. The attack had been on for over two hours and the army troops had only just started making progress at breaking through the Belkan defenses.

"Sir," a radio operator called out, "We have a break through at point E-25. A combat platoon is currently moving through the breach."

"It's about damn time," General Ogden sighed angrily, "Order all Falcon reserve elements to move there and push through."

"Yes sir!" The radio operator replied before setting his radio to the proper frequency and relaying the commands, "All Falcon elements, you are to proceed to point echo-two-five and make your way through a recently opened gap in enemy defenses. Do you copy, over?"

"This is Falcon Company, I read you, proceeding to point echo-two-five and assist in breakthrough, over," The reply crackled over the radio.

"Roger that, command out."

Five miles outside the Orion Base, Falcon Company's commander relayed the command to the four platoons under his control, "Alright boys, it's our turn to get into this fight. We are to move at full speed to point echo-two-five and assist in a break through. That is all."

The field Falcon Company was occupying was full of armored vehicles, mainly M2A2 Bradley IFVs and M1A2 MBTs. The company was made up of three tank units and one infantry unit. Soon the roar of each vehicles engines starting up echoed throughout the area and the armored column started its way at full speed toward the breakthrough point. It took slightly over fifteen minutes for the armored company to make it the now expanding breach. Troops and armored vehicles were pouring through the gap in enemy lines and proceeding to flank the remaining Belkan defenders. Falcon Company's commander halted his tank a few yards outside the twisted remains of a barbwire fence as the rest of the company made its way toward the base, which was just visible in the distance.

"Won't be long now," he said, smiling to himself.

General Marshal's quarters shook again after more explosions announced themselves overhead. The base was lost, that was evident. The Osean raid had accomplished more than anticipated. Without the main power supply, the Electromagnetic Railguns were useless and the runway had been cratered beyond repair, grounding all the jets on the base. A few of the armed Sentinel jets were trying their best to support the defenders but Osean aircraft were keeping them at bay, closing in and strafing the stealth crafts with their 20mm Vulcan Cannons.

The only other person in the small, private control room was Lieutenant Hopper, who was quite nervous compared to the calm demeanor his superior was displaying.

"Hmm," Marshal mused, "This is hopeless. Those damn raiders and their annoying Pokémon allies ruined this base."

"What are we going to do now?" Hopper questioned as another large explosion shook the room.

"We are going to evacuate, take the JT-1 in my private hanger and go to the other base I set up in northern Belka."

"Wait," Hopper said, utterly confused, "You have a private hanger and we have another base in Belka?"

"That is correct," Marshal replied with a small nod before retrieving the hard drive from his personal computer and walking over to a hidden door, "I kept a few things to myself. I have been sending all of our data to a newer base in Belka. It is in the hills about a hundred miles outside Nördlich. Now let's go. I don't want to risk the Oseans catching us."

Hopper only gave a slight nod before following Marshal down the narrow hallway to a small hanger that housed a single Sentinel jet. The two Belkan officers took up the pilots seats before engaging the engines and taking off down the launch tunnel to an exit a few hundred yards outside the Orion base. Once the jet was clear of the forest, it accelerated to its supersonic speed and turned north.

* * *

Lucario and Zorua decided to stay the night in the forest they were transported to, figuring it was best to get some rest. They had a quick breakfast that consisted of some berries, which tasted much better after being deprived of the fruits they took for granted. Lucario noticed he still had on the Osean combat vest with the small blue and white flag present on the right shoulder strap. It was empty but he decided to keep it anyways. It had plenty of pouches and pockets that could prove useful at some point. Before long the duo was walking toward the rising sun.

"So, do you have any idea where we are?" Zorua asked from her spot slightly behind Lucario.

"Not a clue," Lucario replied, taking a quick scan of his surroundings, "Could be any of the forested areas in Saldara or any of the other regions."

"Why don't we ask some of the local Pokémon?"

"Because they would probably run off at the sight of us, we are not from around here and personally, I am not the friendliest looking Pokémon."

Zorua thought a moment before responding.

"I could create an illusion around us, make us look like some of the other Pokémon in the area," Zorua said confidently, liking her idea.

"That could work, but I don't think either of us has completely recovered from yesterday," Lucario countered, shaking his head, "I would rather not have either of us over exert ourselves, the risks out way the benefits."

"Fine," Zorua said, knowing Lucario was right.

They continued their eastward walk as Zorua brought up another topic, Lucario's encounter with Palkia and Giratina. Lucario let out a sigh before thinking about how to start. He had told her he would tell her. Now he had to face the decision of how much to tell her. Did he tell her everything or censor out certain parts.

'_Screw it,' _he thought before starting.

"The last thing I remembered before passing out was you screaming at me," Lucario said as he continued walking, "The next thing I knew I was in some sort of void. Almost total blackness minus a few swirling white lights, at first I thought you were playing another joke on me."

"What! I would never do such a thing," Zorua said, pretending to be hurt by the accusation. Lucario just cast a quick glance down at his partner before letting out a small laugh.

"Yah right, and I am just a normal Lucario. Back to the story, I was only there for a bit before Palkia and Giratina showed up. They started asking me questions to see if they how I had gotten into that situation."

"You mean the electricity surging around you?" Zorua interrupted.

"Yes," Lucario replied, slightly annoyed, "Anyway, we determined I had absorbed it from the devise that brought us to that dimension."

"That big metal cylinder thing you stabbed?"

"Yes, that thing," Lucario replied exasperated, his head dropping slightly, "They gave me three options. Two of which most likely involved me dying and the third involved them transferring some of their power into me. So, I am now a legendary Pokémon now. Any other questions you want to ask me?"

Lucario finished and waited for the barrage of questions that was sure to follow. A few seconds later, the first salvo landed.

"WAIT! You're a legendary Pokémon now?!" Zorua almost yelled out. Lucario only nodded in reply as he continued walking, hoping to find some sign of their location. "So that's what I felt."

"Huh?" Lucario said and turned around, looking down at Zorua, "What do you mean?"

"When I first saw you after we returned, gave off a feeling of power, like there was something more to you," Zorua replied, not quite sure of how to explain it.

"Well, it's said that any Pokémon can tell when they are in the presence of a legendary. This means we definitely won't be getting any help from the local Pokémon."

"What do you mean?" Zorua asked confused, walking behind Lucario as they continued they search.

"Legendary means powerful. Most Pokémon tend to avoid powerful Pokémon they don't know, legendary or not."

"So, how did Palkia and Giratina find us in the first place?" Zorua said, bringing the topic back to the two power legendries.

"I don't know. I forgot to ask," Lucario replied with a shrug, "If I ever see them again, I will be sure to ask."

"So why exactly did they give you their power. I mean, you're just like any other Pokémon, no offence," Zorua asked curiously. It was the question Lucario was debating about in his head, trying to decide if there was any reason not to tell her.

"None taken and I asked them the exact same question pretty much," Lucario said plainly, having made up his mind, "They did because I am not like most other Pokémon actually. I never told you this but I am of a rare bloodline, one that dates back nearly eight hundred years to the medieval era."

**(Marines Don't Quit, Battle: Los Angeles OST, Brian Tyler)**

**(Song start)**

"What are you talking about?" Zorua asked confused.

"Tell me, how much do you know about the history of Saldara? I mean the ancient history before the regional governments rose to power."

"Not much, just stories a friend of my mom told me," Zorua started, some sadness in her voice, "She was a Weavile and like a mom to me. I was heartbroken when she passed. She told me that there used to be two kingdoms that had established themselves on the island. At first they lived together in peace but after a while some issue sparked a war. One of the kingdoms was defeated and the other continued to prosper and eventually become the regional government."

"That is fairly accurate, but there are a few details missing," Lucario said, sitting down against a tree, "The two kingdoms were Azoria and Taldara. The Pokémon in Azoria were completely free, living in harmony with the humans while the Pokémon in Taldara were subjected to slavery from their human overlords. The Pokémon that lived in Azoria grew in power over the ages. It is not known why or how, but Azorian Pokémon grew to possess more strength than Pokémon from other areas.

"Azoria had also developed into a capable aura state with countless aura guardians and several Lucario clans that called Azoria home. Because of this, many different devises were created that used aura as a power source, making Azoria one of the most advanced nations in the world. Despite these technological advances, Azoria still fell when Taldara invaded, their sheer numbers eventually overwhelming the smaller kingdom. It wasn't just an invasion though; it was a war of complete elimination. Genocide would not even begin to describe the horrors that were committed. People and Pokémon alike were killed on sight without an ounce of mercy. Every aspect of the Azorian Kingdom was destroyed, virtually all evidence of its existence wiped out. Very few escaped the day the capital city of Axiom fell and I am a descendent of those lucky few that escaped.

"After that, Taldara renamed itself to Saldara to try and cover up their extermination. They supposedly went through a 'government reform' and 'brought the people together.' Nothing changed though; every 'elected' official was put in power by the old guard. It was the most extensive cover-up for at least seven hundred years before it was finally exposed and the military took over."

**(End song)**

"So your kind was hunted down and exterminated?" Zorua asked with sadness easily audible in her voice.

"Yah, that's one way to look at it," Lucario responded dismally, "They especially went after aura guardians and Lucarios."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault," Lucario countered his voice dropping a little more, "It's in the past, no use dwelling on it now."

Silence ruled the next few minutes as Lucario thought about old memories, painful memories. Zorua continued to think about Lucario's little history lesson. The idea of being hunted down slightly unnerved her, but having your entire bloodline exterminated sent chills down her spine.

"Hey Lucario," Zorua said quietly, "How many Azorians are left?"

"I don't know," Lucario replied with a sigh, "I think I am the last, but Palkia and Giratina made it sound like there were at least a few more."

"What about your parents?" Zorua asked hopefully. However, her hope quickly changed to sorrow when she looked into Lucario's eyes, eyes full of pain and suffering.

**(Remember Me, Illusions, Thomas Bergersen)**

**(Song start)**

Zorua's only response was silence. Lucario brought his knees up to his chest and lowered his head against them, closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around his legs in the process. Lucario knew that this question was a possibility when he shared his lineage. He took the risk and shared anyway, hoping that it wouldn't come up. But it did. Now he faced the choice of repressing those memories again, or finally letting them out. Repressing them had barely worked the first time, but now those memories were front and center in his mind, refusing to go away. Lucario didn't even raise his head when he finally replied.

"I had the best parents in the world," Lucario started quietly, "My mom and dad always looked after me and made sure I was brought up properly. My mom taught me morals and code of conduct while my dad taught me combat and aura control. We lived in the western mountains along the coast. Every evening we would watch the sunset over the ocean as a family, just the three of us."

Zorua was fully engaged in the new story Lucario was telling. It was obviously a much more personal story than the last. Another part of Lucario's past. A past that so far had been full of tragedy.

"My control over aura manifested at a young age, just over six months after I hatched. Over the next few months, my dad taught me everything he knew about aura and showed me how to control it properly. I was a quick learner and it didn't take me long to pick up on even the advanced methods. After I had gotten a good grasp on even the hardest of techniques, we left our home for some of the surviving Azorian ruins. There were a few Lucarios that lived in the ruins and we thought they could teach me what they knew.

"They called themselves the Elders of Aura and had learned much from the texts in the ruins. At first they welcomed me and my parents with open arms. I was put into a mentorship and practiced individually with one of the elders. Everything was great for the first two months but after a while everyone began staying away from me and my parents. Even the Lucario who was teaching me distanced himself. We were about to just return home when they told me I was to go to the chief elder for a test. They took us to a courtyard that overlooked a deep valley were most of the elders were located and told us I was to fight the chief elder as a final exam.

"It was a piece of cake, you have lasted longer against me than he did," Lucario said with a small laugh before continuing in a somber tone, "My parents rushed out and congratulated me. It was the happiest I had ever been. That was the day evolved…it is also the worst day of my life."

Lucario paused for a bit, not wanting to continue. Zorua looked up at Lucario, wanting to hear what happened next. She could see tears leaking out of Lucario's eyes, his entire body shaking ever so slightly.

"After I finished evolving, my parents were on top of me again. It was the greatest moment of my life. However, we were attacked from all sides moments later. My parents and I were bound and brought before the chief elder. He said that they had discovered an ancient text prophesizing a Lucario that would be unnaturally strong, come to yield dangerous powers, and bring war to the land."

By this point Lucario wasn't holding the tears back, letting them flow freely down his face. Zorua had never seen him like this and was worried what memory could be so painful for him to even talk about.

"They force me to watch as the Lucario who taught me beheaded my parents," Lucario choked out, "They executed my parents for 'bringing a demon into this world' and kicked their bodies over a cliff. They proceeded to beat me until I was barely conscious before taking me off into the woods. They dumped my body at the feet of some poachers before knocking me out. I woke up chained down in a cage being transported into a large building; that was my first day of captivity."

**(Song end)**

Zorua was at a complete loss at what to say so she didn't say anything. She only mover closer to let him know she was there if he needed anything. A few more minutes of silence passed before Zorua said something.

"Are you going to be alright?" She asked softly.

"Yah, I just need some time to gather my thoughts," Lucario responded in a low voice. Several more minutes of silence followed before Lucario spoke up again, "Thanks by the way."

"Thanks for what?" Zorua asked, her voice showing her interest.

"Hearing me out, I have never told anyone this much about me or my past," Lucario sighed, "I guess it just feels good to share it with someone."

"Oh, you're welcome I guess," Zorua said somewhat confused, "So what are we going to do now?"

Lucario though about this for a bit, going deep into his mind trying to decide if his parents would approve of what he wanted to do. He never finished his internal debate, deciding it didn't matter. His parents were gone. Now there was only one thing he could do.

"Payback," Lucario said with a dead serious tone, "I am going to get my revenge on those who put me through this pain. I am going to make them regret what they have done to me."

* * *

Zorua: You have got to be kidding me! We didn't even leave yet!

Lucario: Really? I tell you my life story and that is what you are thinking about?

Osean: That's just cold.

Zorua: Well... Uh…oops

Short again and I am sorry, but this is just the opening chapter. It is just supposed to give the general idea of what Act II is about. Those last few sentences should finish that up objective nicely. That and I wanted to finish this chapter by Thursday because I will have very little free time till around the end of August, stupid band camp. Luckily it's not as bad as previous years so I _might_ be able to get a chapter out before then but don't count on it.

Anyway, hope this chapter answers a few questions that were raised last chapter. I promise this won't be the end of the Azorian stuff, though its role in this story is minor. There will be an entire story about it eventually, either after this one or the sequel I have planned for this.

Once again I will ask you to hit that review button and once again 96% of you will ignore that request. That is the actual percentage for most chapters. Please help lower that percentage.


	16. Firestorm

Yes, I am indeed alive. And no, I haven't suffered from any major accident, unless you want to call band camp a major accident. Glad that's over. Now, I beg for your forgiveness for this incredibly long wait you had to bear for this chapter. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy, though I have just a few more announcements though.

I have started an official Dimensional War forum and the link can be found on my profile. In said forum there are two topics: Q&A and Dimensional Weapons Suggestions. The Q&A is for any questions you may have regarding conflicts in the plot or stuff you believe I have left out because there is some of that. The latter is exactly what it says. Not going to waste time explaining that. I would like to note Unknown Legacy as the first person to put in an idea. And that was before I even announced this publically. His idea for a heavy battle tank has been approved and will be added. I encourage you to input any ideas you may have! And leave reviews!

* * *

Zorua: Can we go now?

Lucario: Yes.

Osean: Isn't that my decision?

Lucario: You take too long. We are leaving with or without your support.

Osean: Not sure if that's possible…

* * *

Act II: Vengeance

Chapter 16: Firestorm

"Sir, combat elements are reporting that the Orion Base is secure. Most of the troops defending the base have surrendered."

"Finally," General Ogden sighed out, glad that the operation had been successful, casualty numbers were still coming in and they were slightly higher than anticipated. "Is there any sign of Marshal in the base?"

"No sir. His private quarters were empty and the hard drive to his computer is missing. It would appear that he managed to escape."

"So the hunt goes on then," Ogden said leaning back in his chair, "Now where has the rat run off to this time."

* * *

Lucario and Zorua were once again on the move, walking away from the now falling sun. They traveled in silence for the most part, Zorua occasionally asking a question or two. After some time the two finally came across a road. Dirt trail would be a better way to describe said path but it looked like a fairly well traveled route.

"So," Lucario started, "You want to go north or south?"

"Umm, south I guess," Zorua replied slightly confused, "But shouldn't we avoid the main roads?"

"If I sense anyone coming we can easily duck back into the…" Lucario said.

"Whoa, what the heck is that?" A voice suddenly came from behind the now startled Pokémon.

"Trees," Lucario finished as he cursed himself for letting his guard down and turning around to face the human who had come up behind him. He appeared to be in his early to mid-twenties, maybe around twenty four or twenty five, had rough, brown hair with matching hazel eyes. He was wearing jeans with a rough green shirt and a camouflage bandana tied around his head. The man quickly pulled out a small, red and black box and slid it open and pointed it in the general direction of Lucario. The Pokédex locked onto Lucario and began running through its massive memory banks.

"Error," a mechanical voice spat out, "Pokémon not recognized in regional database, expanding search for similar entries." Once again the machine began to process the information stored in its databanks. "Similar entry found with 65% match. Lucario: By catching the Aura emanating from others, it can read their thoughts and movements. Now recording data of possible evolution," the mechanical voice finished before taking a picture of a less than pleased Lucario and recording visible details such as height, physical features, and estimated weight.

"Hmm, interesting," the boy said as he pocketed the Pokédex and reached for one of his Pokéballs when a voice inside his head stopped him.

"_Don't even think about it,"_ the voice said harshly as the Pokémon in front of him crossed his bladed arms across his chest, narrowing its piercing, purple eyes.

"Did…did you say that?" he asked stunned as he took a step back.

"_Yes, now tell me, where are we?"_

"Well, this is the Eterna Forrest."

"_What region?" _Lucario spat out impatiently.

"The Sinnoh Region," the trainer answered quickly, "What kind of Pokémon are you anyway?"

"_The kind that doesn't have much appreciation for the human race,"_ Lucario replied dryly.

"That's not what I meant," the trainer replied shaking his head.

"_I know and it is better that you don't know and don't tell anyone about this,"_ Lucario replied seriously, _"There are powerful people who will do whatever it takes to find me. If they think you know anything about me they will not hesitate to torture you to find out what you know."_

At this the trainer thought about what the mysterious Pokémon in front of him was saying. Was he really that dangerous and who exactly was after him? Then again, he did not appear to have much voice in the matter. A small amount of movement behind the white Pokémon caught his attention. The Pokémon in front of him was confusing enough but what he saw behind it was not helping the situation.

"What the…a Zorua, I thought they weren't any in Sinnoh," The trainer said completely befuddled.

"_Umm, hi yah,"_ a second, female voice said in his head somewhat sheepishly. It only took him a few seconds to put the pieces together.

"You can talk too!" he very yelled out as he reeled back a few steps, "What the hell is going on here?"

He looked back up at the other Pokémon and saw his eyes were flaming a faint purple color. The next thing he knew, everything was black.

Zorua watched as the human in front of her went limp and fell to the ground. It took her a bit to realize he was out cold.

"Did you do that to him?" she asked Lucario, looking up as his eyes returned to normal.

"Yes, he was getting annoying," Lucario replied, "Now I just need to move him up against a tree and hope he will think that this encounter was just a dream."

"You don't really expect that to work do you?" Zorua asked skeptically.

"No, not really," Lucario said with a small laugh, "but he was getting on my nerves and this will allow us to get some distance from him."

Lucario carefully positioned the trainer with his back leaning against tree a little ways off the road. Satisfied with his work, Lucario turned back to the road with Zorua at his heels and continued south along the road. The duo continued walking well into the afternoon with nothing major happening. Whenever Lucario sensed someone coming down the road, they would duck off to the side and wait for whoever it was to pass. However, as time passed, Lucario started growing uneasy. An all too familiar feeling was making itself present in his gut.

"Zorua, hold on for a moment," Lucario said somewhat worried, "I need to meditate on something."

"Umm, alright," Zorua replied somewhat confused. She had notice Lucario uneasiness and was slightly worried.

"Let's get a ways off the road first," Lucario said as he turned off the path, "The last thing we need is for some trainer to come along while I'm not paying attention."

"What? Don't think I could hold them off?" Zorua said arrogantly.

"One trainer, maybe but if said trainer had friends, you would be in trouble. Besides, you would also have to defend me while my mind is occupied."

"Oh, right…" Zorua said with a now deflated ego, "What exactly are you hoping for?" Zorua asked, wondering if this sudden decision was linked to his uneasiness.

"Hoping I can trigger one of those visions I have," Lucario stated calmly, "Most of them have come when I am asleep, but meditating should hopefully trigger one as well, at least I think it will."

"So you think something bad is going to happen?" Zorua asked worried.

"Call it a gut feeling," Lucario replied with a shrug of the shoulders.

"Like when we were heading into that city?"

"Yeah, but it is much stronger this time. Now," Lucario said as he sat down, crossing his legs, "Keep an eye out until I am finished."

Lucario brought his fists together slightly off center so the tips of his arm blades overlapped about an inch. He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes and dived into the inner depths of his mind. Zorua watched as Lucario sat there in deep concentration, somewhat fascinated at how calm and peaceful he looked. However, fascination in someone doing nothing only lasts so long before it becomes boredom. Before long, Zorua was lounging around looking up at the sky through a gap in the trees. After about a half hour of nothingness, a rustling sound in a nearby bush caught Zorua's attention. At first she froze and looked over at the bush in question before righting herself and cautiously walking toward to bush.

"Hello, is anyone there?" Zorua called out. No answer. Zorua continued walking forward toward the suspect bush which she could now see shaking from something hidden inside it. When she was a few steps away from the bush a long, brown ear popped out of the top of the bush followed shortly by another identical ear a few inches to the right of the first.

"Umm, hi there," a shaky, feminine voice came from inside the bush as a Pokémon stepped into the open. It wasn't very tall, just over a foot in height and had a tan fleece covering most of its lower body while a brown fur covered its upper body.

"Oh, hi there," Zorua responded cheerfully while walking around the strange bunny looking Pokémon.

"I'm Buneary," the Pokémon said somewhat less scared, "I have never seen a Pokémon like you before. Are you part of a trainer's team?"

"I'm Zorua! Nice to meet you," Zorua said as she bounded about, "And no neither me nor my friend are with a trainer."

"Oh, that's nice," Buneary said much more confidently, "Most unfamiliar Pokémon that come through here are with a trainer. So we tend to avoid them most of the time."

"So why did you come over here then?" Zorua asked slightly confused.

"I guess you could say that my curiosity got the better of me," Buneary replied somewhat sheepishly, "That and I drew the short straw. The others wanted to find out who you two were. Who is your friend by the way?"

"He's Lucario, but that's just what I call him. He's not much of a Lucario anymore," Zorua replied happily.

"What type of Pokémon is he then?"

"Not really sure. As I said he was a normal Lucario until about two weeks ago," Zorua replied plainly, "Things get a little complicated from there. Some humans did something to him that turned him white before we escaped. Then last night he evolved into that."

"He seems really powerful, almost like I can feel the power coming off of him," Buneary said as she walked closer to the meditating Aura Pokémon, "What's he doing?"

"He's meditating so I wouldn't get too close," Zorua replied as Buneary leaned in a little closer. Suddenly, the white Pokémon was engulfed in a transparent, purple flame. Buneary jumped back from the fire, afraid that she had done something wrong.

"I didn't do anything, I swear!" she practically screamed out as she ran over to where Zorua was standing. Zorua was looking a Lucario intently, knowing what the purple fire meant, "What's going on with him? Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he is fine," Zorua replied in a low voice, "It's just something that happens to him occasionally."

"What is it?"

"To the best of my knowledge, it is a vision of coming disaster."

**(Reborn, Illusions, Thomas Bergersen)**

**(Song Start)**

Lucario was oblivious to the two conversing Pokémon that were mere feet from him. His focus was deep inside his mind. Everything was black at first but a forest began to materialize underneath his feet after a few seconds. Lucario could feel something solid under his feet but couldn't see anything, almost as if he was standing on glass. He looked around at both the trees below and the night sky above, trying to find anything out of the ordinary. However, seconds passed and nothing seemed to happen.

'_What is going on here,' _Lucario thought to himself, _'Something should be happening…'_

Almost as if on cue, a small explosion went off in the distance, a few seconds passed before that area of the forest started glowing and giving off a thick, black smoke. Lucario started off in the direction of the now burning woods, running above the trees on the invisible platform. He could see the local Pokémon fleeing from the now spreading inferno, which was being spread quickly due to a strong northern wind. Another jet of fire announced itself farther to the east of Lucario's current position over the burning woodlands. He continued in the direction of the newly started blaze trying to find the source of the roaring fire that now engulfed part of the surrounding forest.

Lucario tried switched over to his aura vision to try to find any signs of life below him, but all he could see was pitch black. After a few seconds of trying to get his aura vision to work, he gave up on the idea, determining that it didn't work in these strange visions.

Just as he arrived at the site of the last fireball, another bright flash occurred just a little farther east. Lucario went into a full out sprint was he attempted to catch up with the cause of the inferno below. He came to a small break in the trees east of the last explosion hoping to see who or what was responsible.

He was not disappointed as a few seconds later a human burst out of the trees with a medium sized orange Pokémon at his side. Lucario's temper rose as he saw the human, but subsided some when a jet of fire shot out of the trees he had just come out of, realizing that the human wasn't the source of the massive forest fire that was making its way south through the trees. Seconds later, another Pokémon burst out from the woods closely followed by three others, chasing the human. Lucario continued to wait above the tree line, waiting to see if any others were coming. After half a minute of waiting, two more humans emerged from the trees. Lucario's anger flared once again, these humans were clearly the ones commanding the Pokémon that were recklessly setting the forest to fire.

Lucario had seen enough, his blood was boiling at this point. Those humans were desecrating the forest and he would have their blood for it. Lucario eyes snapped open as he brought himself back to the real world. He was greeted by the sight of Zorua chatting with another Pokémon.

**(Song End)**

"You, leave, now," Lucario said bluntly, pointing at the unfamiliar Pokémon in front of him, "Tell everyone you see to leave. You have to get away from here and head west."

"What's going on?" Zorua asked nervously.

"Not right now Zorua," Lucario said slightly agitated, "We have some distance to cover."

Lucario was in a full out sprint before Zorua could question further as he dashed north through the trees. Zorua was effectively left in the dust as Lucario disappeared into the forest, leaving a stunned Buneary behind. Zorua turned toward her as she started after Lucario.

"Well, don't just stand there. Go! Warn the others," Zorua yelled out over her shoulder.

Zorua set off in the direction Lucario had gone, knowing that she couldn't catch up to him as long as he was sprinting. However, she knew that he would stop eventually whenever he got to where he was going. So she continued her own dash, following Lucario's scent through the maze of trees.

Night had taken its place in the sky as Lucario neared the area he suspected the humans would be in. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, relying on his aura vision to search the surrounding forest. What he saw only enraged him further. He was too late; the humans had already started their hunt, sending out their own Pokémon to chase down the other human.

He set off in a path parallel to the others slowing catching up with the two fleeing from the others. However, he could also see that the pursuing Pokémon were gaining. Through his aura vision, he could see that the human fleeing had stopped and turned to face his opponents. Deciding that he was far enough forward, Lucario cut to his right, now charging toward the fray. He could see one of the Pokémon charging up an attack aimed at human's Pokémon. Lucario lowered his shoulder as he approached the attacking Pokémon, not even slowing down as he slammed into the unsuspecting Pokémon.

The human and his Pokémon watched in shock as a white blur impacted the attacking Houndoom, sending it flying into the forest. Moments later, three more Pokémon emerged from the trees, each glaring at their prey. The group consisted of an Infernape, another Houndoom, and a Magmortar. The Houndoom looked around for his partner who had been ahead of the them. Seconds later there was an eerie howl of agony from the trees not too far off to the right. The three exchanged uneasy looks before focusing back on their target, the stunned trainer in front of them. The Houndoom started growling the trainer as he took a few steps closer, earning the trainer's attention. Seconds passed before two humans showed up behind their fire Pokémon.

"Hey, where is my Houndoom?" One of the humans asked confused.

"_Currently dining with Giratina,"_ a sudden voice said in their heads, causing them both to take a step back as a Pokémon dropped down from the tree landing between them and the trainer they were pursuing.

"What…the heck…is that," he managed to say.

"I don't know," his partner replied, "Kind of looks like a Lucario but not one I have ever seen before and it looks pissed."

"_Oh, I am more than pissed you human lowlife,"_ the voice said again, now clearly coming from the fierce Pokémon in front of them.

The trainer had recovered from his dazed state as the Pokémon he thought he had seen earlier appeared in front of him. He noticed that his Pokémon was suddenly uneasy, as if he knew more about this mysterious Pokémon than he did.

Lucario looked at the three Pokémon in front of him. He could see their uneasiness but knew this would be no pushover; all of them had a type advantage on him while he only had an advantage on one of them.

"Yeah, whatever," one of the humans replied, "We were just supposed to knock off this kid here, but you'll make an excellent prize as well. Infernape use Fire Spin; Houndoom use Flame Thrower!"

**(Immortal, Illusions, Thomas Bergersen)**

**(Song Start)**

"Heh, heh, your toast mutt," the Infernape taunted, as it began charging up the attack. The Houndoom on the other hand instantly unleashed a jet of flame toward Lucario.

'_Reckless,'_ Lucario thought to himself as he side stepped the attack and rolled out of the way of the Fire Spin the Infernape had sent in right behind it.

"WHERE IS MY SISTER?" the Houndoom yelled out unleashing another poorly aimed Flame Thrower.

"Oh, you mean that poor sap I blindsided earlier? Last I was of her, she was at the base of a tree with my blade stuck through her chest," Lucario taunted a bit sadistically, an evil grin across his face.

The Houndoom responded with a loud, rage-filled roar before enveloping his body in fire and charging toward Lucario in a savage Flame Charge. Lucario let out a low sigh as he channeled energy into his left paw and raised it up next to hit head. As the Houndoom made his final lunge, Lucario brought is paw forward and met the Houndoom's attack, landing his paw on the dog's head and unleashing the stored energy in a powerful Force Palm. Lucario recoiled slightly as the two attacks collided with Lucario skidding back a few inches. The Houndoom was not as lucky. The Force Palm attack sent the dark type plowing through the dirt back to where his comrades were located. After a few seconds, he managed to shakily stand up and get back into somewhat of a fighting stance.

Lucario winced as a pain made itself evident on his left paw. Looking down, he realized that his paw was badly burnt from the Flame Charge attack. If only to make matters worse, the pain distracted Lucario long enough for the mostly idle Magmortar to launch a large Fire Blast. By the time Lucario sensed the attack coming it was too late to do anything about it. The pain was almost unbearable as the red-orange fire ball struck him in the chest and exploded, sending him flying into a nearby tree. Before Lucario could fully recover, an engaged Houndoom charged toward him, fire in his mouth, and bit down on Lucario's already burned left paw. Lucario yelped in pain from the Fire Fang and used his good paw to deliver a swift punch the dark type's head, knocking him against a tree.

Lucario stood up, murder in his eyes as he glared at the two opponents that were still in front of him. His left paw burned in pain as he got back into a fighting stance.

"Alright," Lucario said harshly, "I am through playing games. How about this, you give up now, and I might let you live. Keep fighting and I will make sure you see your deceased friend by morning."

Before either of them could response, a blast of water impacted the Infernape. The wave continued blasting away at the fire type for a few seconds before dying down, revealing a dripping Infernape that appeared to be dazed quite a bit from the thorough soaking it just received.

"Great job, that's a Hydro Pump for the records Buizel," the trainer yelled out, "Now use Aqua Jet on the Magmortar."

Lucario watched as the Buizel surrounded its body with water and propelled itself toward the fire type. Figuring that the water weasel could handle those two, Lucario turned his attention back to the Houndoom that had recovered from his punch.

"Just you and me now," Lucario said as he walked toward dark type, using Metal Blade* as he neared his target. The Houndoom stepped back in fear, bumping into the tree he had been slammed into. Lacking anywhere to run to, he fired off a hastily prepared Flame Thrower. The Houndoom grinned as he watched the flames cover his target. However, his smile disappeared seconds later as the white canine emerged from the flames unscathed.

"What are you? Some sort of demon of something." the Houndoom asked as his eyes widened in fear.

The tips of Lucario's mouth curved upward ever so slightly as he replied, "I am the demon the demons will come to fear."

Lucario brought his right arm around and punched the Houndoom in the side, his extended blade easily piercing the dark type's flesh. The Houndoom's facial expression turned to shock as Lucario retracted his blade and let his target fall to the grass. As the Houndoom's final moments approached his face softened, almost to the point of happiness.

'_Time to go home,'_ he thought to himself before breathing his last breath.

Lucario turned around to see how the Buizel was handling the others only to rapidly duck out of the way as something flew over his head. He turned his head to look behind him only to see the Buizel lying at the base of a now broken tree. The trainer was running toward his injured Pokémon only to be blindsided by a very angry and soaked Infernape.

"Stupid water type," he murmured as he turned and faced Lucario, "Who is going to bail you out now mutt?" His eyes fell to his limp comrade, a pool of crimson liquid staining the green grass at his side. His gazed turned from concentrated, to shocked, to enraged in mere seconds. "You will pay for that!" He yelled out as he charged toward Lucario, his entire arm giving off a faint, blue light. Lucario mimicked, engulfing his right paw in a white energy. Both Pokémon brought their attacks down on each other before a responding explosion sent both fighting types flying backwards. Lucario skidded across the grass on his back before being brought to an abrupt halt by an ill placed boulder. Lucario rubbed his head as he sat up, his vision a little blurry as he looked to where he was seconds ago. His eyes snapped back into focus as a jet of flame came out from the Magmortar's arm cannons, forcing him to roll on the ground as the flames shot overhead.

Lucario jumped up to his feet but cringed and grabbed his left arm as the pain from the early burn started coming back. By now the Infernape had also recovered and was charging at him once again with another Mach Punch in the making. Lucario took a deep breath before closing his eyes and holding out is uninjured right paw toward his blitzing opponent, focusing his aura into a tightly packed sphere until it was about the size of a baseball. He launched the compressed ball of purple aura when the Infernape was roughly fifty feet away. His feet slid back a few inches from the recoil of the force behind the Aura Sphere. The Infernape didn't even have time to dodge the attack as it impacted him scant milliseconds after being launched. The resulting explosion instantaneously sent him flying backwards through the burning trees, his internal organs all but obliterated by the forceful change of direction.

Lucario victory was short lived as the Magmortar once again landed a powerful fire attack. The Fire Blast lasted a few seconds and left Lucario badly burned. He fell to the ground as his legs failed him, his nerves finally giving in to the burnings sensation that covered his body. He struggled to look up at his final opponent; he could see the Magmortar walking towards him, arm engulfed in fire. As much as he wanted to get up and fight, he couldn't. His muscles were no longer under his control, no longer responding to his urges to get up. He put all his effort and willpower into one last attempt to rise, making it a few inches off the ground before his arms collapsed and he fell back down to the grass, unconscious.

**(Song End)**

* * *

**(Rada, Illusions, Thomas Bergersen)**

**(Song Start)**

Zorua was following the trail Lucario had taken, running as fast as her stubby legs would carry her. By now, she was already weaving between burning trees and passing Pokémon fleeing in the opposite direction. She still had not caught up to Lucario and was getting worried as she advanced father into the blazing forest. Lucario's scent was also speedily being replaced by the smell of burning wood, making it difficult to track her white furred friend. A few minutes passed and Lucario's scent was long obscured by the surrounding fires, forcing her to rely on the last direction she had been travelling in. After running further into the inferno that used to be the Eterna Forest, she stopped and looked around frantically.

"LUCARIO!" she yelled out, "LUCARIO! WHERE ARE YOU!?"

She stopped and tried to listen for a response but the roaring of the fire drowned out all but her thoughts. She let out a defeat sight when a loud, creaking sound got her attention. She looked over her left shoulder to see a burning tree tipping toward her. Without hesitating, she dashed over to the side as the burning tree landed near where she had been standing. Seconds later a responding explosion went off not too far away. Lacking any other ideas as to where Lucario could be, she ran toward the general area of the blast. It didn't take her too long of dodging and weaving between the flaming obstacles for her to reach a small clearing in the middle of the burning forest. In front of her, Lucario on the ground and a fire type Pokémon she didn't recognize was moving towards him with its arm ablaze.

"Hey! Back off you oversized firecracker," Zorua called out, getting the Magmortar's attention. The fire type just looked at her with empty, emotionless eyes before ignoring her and continuing towards the white wolf. "Hey! I am talking to you bonehead!" Zorua yelled out, annoyed at being brushed off. This time the Magmortar didn't even acknowledge Zorua's existence. Zorua let out a low growl before forming a black and purple energy ball in her mouth. Once the Shadow Ball was a decent size, she fired it at the fire type in front of her. She smiled as the attack impacted on her target enveloping it in a thick black cloud. Not backing down, she charged and fired several consecutive Shadow Balls, each impacting and detonating on the stunned Magmortar. Zorua stopped after about ten Shadow Balls to examine her work. Once the smoke from her attack cleared, she could see her target twitching where it stood, not making any movements. A few moments later it fell over, unconscious.

With no other conscious Pokémon visible, she ran over to where Lucario was lying on the ground. She could see that he was badly burned on most of his body, his usually snow white fur charred to a dark grey across most of his body.

"Lucario, come on, wake up," Zorua pleaded as she rubbed her head against his, trying to get him to regain consciousness. However, it proved fruitless as Lucario remained motionless on the ground. Defeated, she laid down next to her friend, tears leaking from her eyes as she waited for Lucario to wake.

"Well, what do we have here," a sudden gruff voice came from behind the fox Pokémon as she was hoisted into the air. The two humans looked at the unfamiliar Pokémon with interest as it struggled against them, yipping at them as it desperately tried to get loose.

"LET ME GO!" Zorua screamed out as she twisted her body about, try to get an angle on her captors. However, it became clear that she wasn't getting out of their grasp by herself very quickly. So that left…

"LUCARIO, HELP ME!" Zorua called out frantically. Unfortunately, Lucario didn't stir or show any signs of waking soon.

"Well, this is turning out to be quite the rewarding day. The kid is out cold and we bagged ourselves some nice looking Pokémon," one of the mercenaries said.

"Yeah, no kidding," His partner replied, "Now let's get out of here before the authorities show up. We kind of created quite the mess."

Zorua realized what was about to happen next, she had to get free now or else she and Lucario could kiss their newly earned freedom goodbye. She had one option now to get Lucario awake. She closed her eyes and focused on Lucario's unmoving body.

"_LUCARIO, WAKE UP!" _Zorua yelled directly into the aura Pokémon's mind. Instantly, his eyes snapped open. It took a bit for everything to stop being fuzzy, but when he had mentally recovered he looked over to where the two humans were. He saw one of them holding Zorua by the scruff of her neck. He also noticed the knocked out Magmortar in front of him and it didn't take much for him to realize what had transpired. He looked back at the humans in front of him as rage filled every fiber of his body. Using every last ounce of energy he had left, Lucario pushed himself to his feet before letting out a wrathful roar. The mercenaries immediately turned toward the sudden noise before taking several steps back. Lucario's face envisioned death and his eyes glared with ferocity. His entire body was engulfed in a faint purple light and his eyes gave off a bright purple radiance.

"_You will…put her down…THIS INSTANT!"_ Lucario snarled into the humans minds. Either out of fear or shock, the command was followed as Zorua fell to the ground, landing with a faint thud. She shook herself off before running over and behind the enraged canine. Lucario extended his arm blades, each blade shining a bright white, as he took a step towards the fearful humans. Fear was a great thing as it made reading minds all the easier, it only took mere seconds for Lucario to drain their minds of important memory they possessed. He could have done this without harming their nervous system, but he was out for blood. When he finished his mental scan/ attack, he continued toward the humans. They tried to run but the only result was a searing pain as their nervous systems shredding themselves apart. When Lucario was a few steps from his first target, he brought his right arm across his waist before swiftly bringing it back and up. His blade went deep into the man's chest, leaving a profound gap where his blade traveled. The mercenary's eyes rolled back as he fell to the ground. Lucario didn't waste any time as he stepped over his left foot and brought the point of his right blade into the other mercenary's side. Lucario finished by slicing along the man's waist with his left blade, pushing the human off of his other blade and onto the ground.

Lucario was breathing heavily as he stood over the dying mercenaries. The faint, purple light aura the surrounded him began to dissipate and his eyes returned to their normal state. After his breathing started returning to normal, Lucario took a few steps back toward Zorua before collapsing down onto his knees.

**(End Song)**

"Remind me not to do that again," Lucario said weakly, extremely exhausted after his display of raw power. Zorua's response was almost immediate though it was not verbal, but physical as she jumped up at his chest, pushing him back onto the ground. She didn't say anything as she pressed her face against his charred fur. Lucario winced in as pain shot through his nerves.

"Hey! Watch it, still fragile here," Lucario said somewhat jokingly.

"Are you ever going to stop almost getting yourself killed?" Zorua asked with a mix of sarcasm and seriousness.

"Probably not," He responded as he playfully pushed Zorua off his chest before sitting back up. He let out a heavy sigh at the sight in front of him. The forest was still ablaze, the clearing they occupied was spared from the firestorm by a large patch of dirt that obstructed the flames path. However, they were still surrounded with no way out. Lucario saw the unconscious trainer and his Pokémon at the edge of the clearing near some trees. Luckily they were still protected by the dirt patch, sparing them from a fiery end.

"Now we just have to get out of here before the all burn to death," Lucario said dryly as he tried to think of a way of the firestorm that had enveloped much of the forest.

"Umm, I think I know Rain Dance," Zorua replied, "If I remember correctly, it was a move that dreaded machine forced me to learn."

"So you have never used it?" Lucario asked skeptically.

"Yeah… But I still think I can pull it off." Zorua replied optimistically.

"Well, it's worth a shot. Go for it."

Zorua stood up before walking a few feet away and closing her eyes, concentrating. Several seconds passed before she opened her mouth and a small blue orb formed. The orb grew for a bit before Zorua threw her head back and shot the orb into the sky. Moments later, thick, black clouds began to form overhead. It didn't take long before there was a steady downfall of rain.

"It worked!" Zorua scream out as she jumped about happily.

"Yeah," Lucario said as a small smile crept onto his face, "It did. But I don't think it will be enough to put out the fire entirely."

"What do you mean? It's raining; the water will put out the fire."

"Well, small droplets of water falling everywhere aren't going to have much of an effect. It might slow the fire down some but unless a miracle happens, we are going to be stuck here for a while if we don't die first."

Zorua looked down at her paws, not liking Lucario raining on her parade. Lucario on the other hand turned and looked off toward the west, his ear twitching every few seconds. He thought he heard a weird buzzing sound. Whatever it was, it was coming in their general direction and was clearly artificial. Zorua looked up at Lucario as he stared into the distance.

"What is it?" She asked confused.

"Something is coming. I am not sure what though. Whatever it is, it is not natural," Lucario replied as he closed his eyes and tried to use his aura vision; however, a splitting head ache came instead forcing him to stop. Lucario grabbed his head as he cried out in pain.

"Lucario, what's going on?" Zorua asked worried.

"Aura is too low, can't use it right now," Lucario replied weakly. He looked back toward the direction the noise was coming from, but the smoke from the fire blocked his sight. The sound intensified as the source got closer, moments later; a large white and red prop plane flew overhead. Both Lucario and Zorua watched as it proceeded to dump unfathomed amounts of water onto the burning forest. More planes followed, each dropping its payload on parts of the forest. Steam now rose instead of smoke from large parts of the surrounding forest.

Lucario and Zorua watched as the cycle continued for most of the night. The planes would come in and drop water onto the surrounding forest fire before flying off then returning a few minutes later and dropping more water.

* * *

The three marine raiders were sitting in the debriefing room, waiting for General Ryan to come and get things started. All three had pretty much slept the entire day after their late night mission. They all stood and saluted and Ryan walked into the room.

"At ease," Ryan said, waving the marines off, "I'll make this quick. Run through everything that happened from the moment of touch down to your extraction."

"Once we landed, we piled all of our extra gear into a pile and Lucario destroyed it," Johnson began, "We then proceeded to enter the building and head toward the server room. We did not encounter any resistance along the way. Once at the server room, we breached and cleared the room without alerting anyone to our presence. After downloading the files, we rigged the door with C-4 and proceeded to the power generators that were located below the base. There were only a few guards in our way that were neutralized without any issues. The generator room was far larger than anticipated and took most of our explosives to properly rig. Once this was complete, we armed the charges and continued back up the stairs."

The marine captain continued his run through of the night's events, including every detail and problem they encountered. He put special emphasis on the destruction of the DLE and the two legendary dragons.

"So Lucario and Zorua are back in their own dimension?" Ryan asked, still trying to process all the information he had just been told. If anyone had tried to tell him this two weeks ago, he would have had them court martialed. But all the unbelievable parts were quite possible due to recent events.

"Correct," Johnson replied.

"And the experimental equipment at the Orion Base has been destroyed?"

"Correct again."

"Very well, you all are dismissed."

The three marines stood and moved toward the door. As Johnson passed by Ryan, he was held back by his superior.

"Is there a problem, sir?"

"Not with me, though the higher ups were hoping to capture the Orion Base with its equipment intact. I cannot say they will be too pleased to learn of its destruction," Ryan said in a serious tone, "Do you believe Lucario did the right thing by destroying it?"

"With all due respect sir, that machine was a mistake from the beginning. I am glad to see it go."

"Good, that's what I wanted to hear," Ryan responded, cracking a small smile, "Now, you're free to go."

Ryan watched as the marine captain left the room before letting out a low sigh. He walked over to the computer terminal and plugging in a flash drive, more specifically, the flash drive that held the stolen Belkan data. He waited for the computer to process the new drive and bring up the options.

Enter password:

Ryan looked down at the watch on his wrist before typing down a row of numbers on a small screen.

8970116

Access granted.

Ryan went to work pulling up and extracting all the files regarding the high tech equipment at the Orion Base. After moving it all into one file, he clicked on the file and pressed a command on the keyboard.

Are you sure you wish to delete this file? All data will be permanently lost. (Y/N)

Yes.

File deleted.

* * *

Lucario: Do you enjoy trying to kill me?

Osean: No, I just like giving you challenges.

Zorua: Challenges that kill?

Osean: You are over reacting.

Lucario: You set an entire forest on fire.

Osean: So? What is your point?

Zorua: …

Lucario: I don't know how to respond to that…

*Metal Blade: Similar to Metal Claw but is an extension of Lucario's arm blades causing the entire blade to glow white, replaces Metal Claw for all intents and purposes.

And done, I could have added a bit more to this chapter, but I felt like that was a good spot to stop. The other stuff will just be at the beginning of the next chapter. Truthfully, I like this split more than the original I had planned. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Once again, I apologize for the wait. Now if you will please click that review button.


End file.
